The rumor, propagated by Gamespot, came from an IO job listing that at one point said the studio “is currently working on an new [sic] unannounced IP.” The listing, which is for a position on a small “incubation team” that will “prototype gameplay mechanics in Unreal Engine,” has since been altered to remove the reference to a new franchise, according to the site.
With the listing altered and no official statement from IO itself, there’s no way to confirm whether the Copenhagen studio is really cooking up something new, or whether they’ll stick with Hitman for the foreseeable future.
Hitman was released episodically throughout 2016 and got a full disc-based release, titled Hitman: The Complete First Season, at the end of January. The game hews closely to the traditional Hitman formula, with Agent 47 navigating detailed environments while donning various disguises and using creative methods to take out his targets.
IO Interactive, whose parent company is Square Enix, has been open about its plans to continue developing Hitman content after the conclusion of season 1, stating in 2016 that the game’s second season was already in development. Although each individual mission in Hitman very much has its own story, the overarching plot involving Agent 47 will apparently will be picked up in season 2. It’s currently unknown when that will occur.
IO created the Hitman series, but the studio hasn’t only worked on Agent 47’s games over the years. The studio also made both Kane and Lynch games, neither of which was well received by critics or players, and other games including Mini Ninjas and Freedom Fighters.
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