Skip to main content

Just like death, we don’t know when IO Interactive’s new ‘Hitman’ is coming

io interactive next hitman game development hitmangoty
IOInteractive
IO Interactive revealed that development on the much-anticipated sequel to its episodic Hitman title is well underway and that we can expect a number of “franchise firsts” for the next game. Although it’s not quite ready to reveal everything, the Danish developer promises much, with official details set to be revealed early in 2018.

The latest game in the Hitman series, broke new ground for the franchise by releasing in an episodic manner. The style proved popular among gamers and the game has sold more than 7 million copies. That fact was announced by CEO of developer IO Interactive Hakan Abrak alongside the debut of the new Game of the Year edition of Hitman Season One.

[OUT NOW] HITMAN - Game of the Year Edition

But Abrak also made the first tease about the next Hitman game. Although expected after the success of the latest title in the series, Abrak made it official with his post, stating: “Your support will directly help us to continue on our independent journey toward the next Hitman game and beyond. We’re in this together and we promise that we will channel our passion and skills to shine through in everything that comes from this studio.”

Recommended Videos

Unfortunately, Abrak’s announcement was more of a tease than a big reveal. He did, however, highlight that the next game would also break new ground for the Hitman series, with “exciting new features” and “some franchise firsts.”

As much as he claims that he “can’t wait to tell” us about them, Abrak pledged not to reveal anything concrete about the next game until 2018.

IO Interactive isn’t just being quiet to be coy, though. Although it makes sense to wait until the opportune moment to announce new features for its upcoming game, it has also undergone a dramatic shift in its internal structure over the past six months. In mid-2017 it split from the then-parent company, Square Enix, amid concerns that it may be shuttered as a studio.

Abrak explained the relative silence that followed the move as intentional, while the company focused inward to figure out what it wants to stand for in its own right. As it figures that out in the months to come, it seems likely it will begin to reveal more about its inner workings and the development of future titles.

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
Don’t miss this surreal, postapocalyptic indie coming this month
Gaia walks through a dark field full of debris in After Us.

There’s a sub-genre of games out there that I like to call the “atmospheric indie.” It’s a style of independent game in the style of titles like Limbo, which tends to lean on minimalistic platforming and eerie imagery. They’re pure tone pieces that tell their stories through environmental design and aren’t cluttered with complex gameplay systems. That makeshift genre is about to get another addition in the form of After Us.

First revealed at last year’s Game Awards, After Us is an unsettling postapocalyptic 3D platformer launching on May 23 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It follows a faerie-like character named Gaia who’s tasked with restoring life to a dark, surreal world when nature has been replaced by human wreckage. It’s both creepy in tone and somewhat hopeful, telling a story of hope as Gaia looks to bring grass and animals back to a twisted steel landscape.

Read more
Don’t expect Zelda’s $70 price to become the new Switch standard, says Nintendo
Link looks at his hand in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be Nintendo's first Switch game to be priced at $70. News that Tears of the Kingdom, a sequel to one of the bestselling and most critically acclaimed titles on the system, will have an increased price compared to its predecessor came as a surprise over three-and-a-half years after its announcement. It also raised questions about what the future of pricing for Nintendo games will be, especially as Sony, Microsoft, and third-party publishers all upped the cost of their new games in recent years. 
While Nintendo will release Tears of Kingdom at $70, a spokesperson for the company tells Digital Trends that this will not always be the case for its first-party games going forward. 
"No," the spokesperson said when Digital Trends asked if this is a new standard. "We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis." 
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Official Trailer #2
To get more insight into the price shift, I spoke to Omdia Principal Analyst George Jijiashvili, who explains what has caused the price of games to go up in recent years and how Tears of the Kingdom demonstrates that Nintendo will "remain flexible about first-party title pricing." Ultimately, Nintendo fans are finally starting to feel the impact of inflation that's been sweeping across the game industry, even if it's only "on a case-by-case basis" for now.
The price is right
Nintendo claims that not every one of its significant first-party game will be $70, and we can actually already see that in action. Preorders just went live for Pikmin 4, which launches on July 21, after Tears of the Kingdom, and it only costs $60. Still, Zelda's price tag indicates that going forward, Nintendo will at least consider raising the price of its most anticipated games to $70. But why start with Tears of the Kingdom?  
When asked why it chose Tears of the Kingdom as its first $70 Nintendo Switch game, a Nintendo spokesperson simply reiterated that the company will "determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis." Still, it's a surprising choice for Nintendo to make that pricing change to just one exclusive game almost six years into the Switch's life span. Jijiashvili thinks the choice to do this with Tears of the Kingdom was a pretty apparent one for Nintendo, although it won't apply to everything going forward.
"If you are going to make a game $70, it's going to be the follow-up to one of your most critically acclaimed and bestselling games ever," Jijiashvili tells Digital Trends. "I don’t think that this means that $70 will become the standard price for all major Nintendo releases. It's worth noting that Metroid Prime Remastered is priced at $40. It's clear that Nintendo will remain flexible about first-party title pricing."

It makes basic financial sense for Nintendo to ask for a little bit more for a game it knows will be one of the biggest releases of 2023. But what factors in the game industry and world's economy at large caused Nintendo to make this decision? 
Priced Out
For more than a decade, people got comfortable with AAA video games being priced at $60. Of course, there were occasional exceptions to this rule, but it was seen as an industry standard until the dawn of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Publisher 2K was one of the first to announce a price increase, and companies like EA, Sony, and Microsoft have all followed suit. Jijiashvili chalks this up to inflation-related pressure on game publishers.
"The games industry has already been experiencing a lot of inflationary pressure," he explains. "AAA games are much more expensive to make now than they used to be, but prices have actually been declining in inflation-adjusted terms -- if prices had risen with inflation since 1990, they would now be over $90. On top of that, we’ve had a big burst of general inflation, meaning that publishers are looking at big increases in everything from salaries to tools. It’s going to be really hard for most publishers to avoid passing on all those extra costs at some point."
Jijiashvili provided us with a graphic created by Omdia that "shows what the typical price points for each generation would look like if you adjusted for inflation." As you can see, the inflation-adjusted prices are only exponentially growing, and the big game pricing shifts the graph highlights were all technically not even enough to keep up with inflation when they happened. 

Read more
AOC’s new crazy expensive ultrawide gaming monitor has one thing others don’t
aoc new ultrawide gaming monitor crazy expensive nl ag344uxm 1200x62814

AOC is launching one of its newest gaming monitors in regions beyond China, yet this one is a bit different from other displays you might have seen or already own.

One of the most unique offerings on the market, the steeply-priced new Agon Pro AG344UXM sports ultrawide technology, but not on a curved panel.

Read more