Hitman – even Agent 47 can’t defend against corporate assassination

In shock news, the creator of Hitman is to be sold off by owners Square Enix and could even be shut down if a buyer isn’t found.

This has come completely out of the blue, but it looks like Square Enix is finished with Hitman and Danish developer Io-Interactive.

The news emerged this morning in a note (warning: PDF) to Square Enix investors, with the following short statement:

‘To maximise player satisfaction as well as market potential going forward, we are focusing our resources and energies on key franchises and studios. As a result, the Company has regrettably decided to withdraw from the business of Io-Interactive A/S, a wholly‐owned subsidiary and a Danish corporation, as of March 31, 2017.’




That means it’s already happened, and yet nobody knew anything about it until now. But it certainly implies there won’t be a second season of Hitman, despite that having seemed a given up until now.

What’s particularly worrying is that Square Enix has said it’s trying to find a buyer for the studio, but if it can’t work something out it’s implied they’ll simply be shut down.

Presumably this is all because the new episodic Hitman didn’t sell well enough, although up until now Square Enix has given no indication of its displeasure. As an episodic game there have never been any sales figures to show how well it’s done, but the game reviewed well and was popular with fans.

Io’s first Hitman game was released in 2000, but they’ve also made cult favourite Freedom Fighters and the two Kane & Lynch: Dead Men games.

Square Enix bought Io-Interactive in 2009, at the same time as they bought British publisher Eidos Interactive. Until recently that deal had always seemed to work well for Square Enix, but last year belated sequel Deus Ex: Mankind Divided proved such a flop it likely killed off the entire franchise.

The future of Tomb Raider also remains in question, as making Rise Of The Tomb Raider a timed Xbox exclusive lessened its impact. Although a new game is expected to be announced soon, perhaps at E3 in June.

With the Thief reboot also coming to nothing, most of Square Enix’s efforts with Western-developed games is now concentrated on making a series of Marvel games with the developers of both Tomb Raider and Deus Ex.

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