Hitman 2 developer IO Interactive is opening a new studio in Malmö, Sweden, it announced today. IOI Malmö will support the Hitman series, but the announcement also teases the possibility of new universes and franchises that the additional studio will allow the developer to explore.

“We are super excited and proud to announce IOI Malmö," says CEO Hakan Abrak. "We will expand IOI to join a buzzing game developer community and bring our own unique IOI culture to this amazing town.

“Furthermore, this will expand our muscles for creating brand-new and exciting endeavours, new universes, new franchise. In other words, IOI Malmö and Copenhagen are one family.”

IO Interactive broke from publisher Square Enix in 2017 after nine years. It had originally been acquired by the publisher along with Eidos Interactive back in 2009. The developer was able to keep Hitman after the management buyout, which allowed it to create Hitman 2. Staff cuts had to be made to keep IO afloat, but clearly things are quite different now, suggesting Hitman 2 did pretty well.