So I was Ill today and therefore bored at home. I saw this article and decided to translate the whole thing to you

From being on the edge of bankruptcy, Danish computer game company IO Interactive has turned the business around. Now the developers of Hitman can shoot sharper than ever.

In just a single year, the company behind the world famous computer game has increased the bottom line tenfold from 4 million kr. to 41 million kr.

“Just a year ago we were facing bankruptcy. We were fighting to keep the company alive, and we were really not expecting to stand here a year later with such a strong financial report”, says CEO Hakan Abrak.

The recipe for the newfound success is a mixture of a strong cut in expenses, and a vast growing number of players on the Hitman platform. In June 2017, there were two million players. Today the number has surpassed 16 million.

“It is an extraordinary growth. To attract more players we made a free trial version of the Hitman game, where you could then pay to play more of the game. That really made the difference after a very disappointing release in 2016”, says Hakan Abrak.

Before the record result lies a process that nearly killed Denmarks biggest computer company.

A year ago, IO Interactive were facing bankruptcy when Japanese owners Square Enix pulled the plug on the Danish company, who noted an extraordinary writedown of 294 million kr. IO interactice were immediately forced to fire 75 of 185 employees to avoid the bankruptcy.

Japanese Square Enix tried to hand off IO Interactive, after the sixth Hitman game was a regular failure in the first year. But nobody was interested in buying the Danish company.

“There were some foreign investors who offered to take over the company for one dollar. But that was of course not an serious offer. The problem was that a new owner would have to inject quite a lot of money into the development of Hitman 2 (the next game in the series), if IO interactive was to continue. Nobody was interested in this”, says Hakan Abrak.

In the 11th hour, IO Interactive management, including Hakan Abrak, made a deal with Square Enix to buy out the company themselves for an undisclosed amount.

At that time, the company only had a cash-flow to survive three months. On top of this, they had to find financing to complete Hitman 2.

“We were able to make a deal with our English partner, whom develops a part of the game, for free. In return, they will get payment when the game is in sales. Without this agreement, we would not have survived”, says Hakan Abrak.

The company is now self owned and landed a big distribution agreement with American giant Warner Brothers earlier this year. The black clouds have retreated for the time being, despite the vast cut in staff, and a falling turnover.

In the financial report from 01-04-2017 to 31-03-2018 the turnover has fallen to 120 million kr. from 210 million kr. Reason being that the latest Hitman game was released in 2016, therefore having a higher turnover then.

“The sales are going up again here in 2018, and we have big hopes for Hitman 2 which will be released soon. So I expect the turnover will recover in the next financial report”, says Hakan Abrak, but stresses:

“We have first and foremost been focused on creating a profitable business that makes money, and it seems we have succeeded”, he says.

Hitman 2 is expected to hit the shelves in November, and with the player platform of 16 million players, the future looks bright.

“Hitman 2 builds on and still connects to Hitman 1, which will get a makeover and the features of the new game. In that way, Hitman 1 will still generate sale, even though there is a new game out”, says Hakan Abrak.

The Hitman CEO stresses that he and the team has learned from their mistakes. The last game was released in an episodic format, which means that players were not getting the whole game at once, but in parts that was released at month’s intervals. There was also no disc version until the whole game had been released digitally.

“That strategy failed unambiguously. So this time everything will be released at once”, says Hakan Abrak.

Together with two others from IO Interactive management, he now owns the company, which was founded exactly 20 years ago. In that time the company has had four different owners and big ups and downs.

The worst storm has been weathered for now, but the coming Hitman game will be paramount for the continuing success.

“Hitman 2 will definitely have a big impact on whether we can continue as a medium sized, independent game company”, he says.