IO Interactive

IO Interactive is a developer and publisher.

IO Interactive Webpage, Facebook

IO Interactive (abbreviated IOI) is an independent Danish game development studio founded in 1998, producing games for PC and consoles. From 2009 to 2017, the studio was owned by the European branch of the Japanese publishing company Square Enix/Eidos, but regained its independence in June 2017. The company's headquarters are in Copenhagen, and its development team of over 200 people consists of creators from over 20 countries. Since February 2017, Hakan Abrak is the head of IO Interactive.

IO Interactive is known primarily for its two most popular franchises: the Hitman series, centered on government assassin Agent 47, and the Kane & Lynch series, which follows the adventures of two escaped convicts. All productions released so far by the Danish studio (if you don't count Mini Ninjas from 2009) are third-person action games which, due to their subject matter and a large dose of brutality, are definitely intended for an older audience.

History

IO Interactive was founded in Copenhagen in September 1998 as a joint initiative of Nordisk Film & TV and the Reto-Moto development group (formerly known as Zyrinx), initially operating as a fully independent studio. The Danes' debut production was the third-person stealth game Hitman: Codename 47, released in 2000 by British publisher Eidos (now Square Enix Europe). The title proved to be a real hit, praised for its interesting arsenal of weapons, effective AI, and considerable gameplay realism. This resulted in an extended partnership with Eidos, which released the sequel, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, two years later, surpassing its predecessor in popularity.

In 2003, IO Interactive partnered with Electronic Arts to release the third-person shooter Freedom Fighters. However, this partnership with the American publisher was short-lived, as a few months later the developer was acquired by Eidos, ending its nearly six-year period of independence. In the following years, IO Interactive developed two more installments in the Hitman series - Hitman: Contracts (2004) and Hitman: Blood Money (2006), which solidified the studio's strong position. However, the Danes weren't about to capitalize on the popularity of their debut series forever, and in 2007, they introduced a completely new franchise to the world: Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. Despite considerable popularity among gamers, the story of two escaped convicts was met with harsh criticism for its alleged lack of originality and excessive display of violence.

In 2009, Eidos was acquired by the Japanese publishing giant Square Enix, placing IO Interactive under a completely new owner. The first productions released under this partnership were a sequel to the controversial Kane & Lynch and the action-adventure game Mini Ninjas – the studio's first game aimed at younger players. Given the relatively poor reception of both titles, the studio's management decided to return to IO Interactive's flagship brand and the infamous assassin, Agent 47. In 2012, Hitman: Absolution was released, designed to be more accessible and aimed at a wider audience (which met with dissatisfaction among existing fans of the series). The release of the fifth full-fledged installment in the renowned series was preceded by the debut of a simple mini-game, Hitman: Sniper Challenge.

When Square Enix experienced temporary financial difficulties in 2013, it terminated approximately 70 of the studio's employees to reduce costs. It was also announced that IO Interactive would focus exclusively on the Hitman franchise for the foreseeable future, ultimately ending any speculation about potential sequels to the Kane & Lynch and Freedom Fighters series. After several changes to the release date, Hitman, a reboot of the franchise that combined the best features of its predecessors, was released in 2016. Despite considerable controversy stemming from the series' unusual episodic distribution model, the reboot of the Agent 47's series proved to be a very successful production and a return to form. In November 2016, just days after the release of the game's final episode, IO Interactive revealed plans to create a second season of Hitman. That same month, the studio moved to a completely new location in central Copenhagen and unveiled a new logo.

In late February 2017, IO Interactive announced that Hakan Abrak, who had been with the team for over 10 years, had taken over as CEO. In early May, during the publication of its annual financial report, the studio's previous owner, Square Enix, announced it was ceasing further investment in IO Interactive and is intending to sell the Danish developer, citing the need to focus resources on strengthening the company's development capabilities. Just a few days later, news spread throughout the industry that some of the studio's employees had been laid off. Rumors also swirled that if a new potential buyer for IO Interactive wasn't found quickly, the studio might be completely disbanded and its core franchise, Hitman, sold to another developer. Less than a month later, in a press release, IO Interactive's CEO Hakan Abrak announced that, following successful negotiations, Square Enix had agreed to a management buyout of the studio, with the studio retaining all rights to the Hitman and Freedom Fighters series. After eight years of operating within the structures of an Asian corporation, IO Interactive has once again become an independent studio.

In April 2018, IO Interactive announced a partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which was to distribute Hitman: Definitive Edition. In June of that same year, the team announced a sequel to their 2016 hit. While it followed the same path, it wasn't divided into episodes. Instead, in November of that same year, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gamers received the full production. Hitman 2, as the project was called, was published by WBIE and sold well enough for IO Interactive to gain momentum and open a new branch in Malmo, Sweden. This team was tasked not only with assisting in the development of the Hitman series but also with working on new IPs.

On July 29, 2019, the company confirmed that it was developing the third installment in the trilogy begun over three years ago. Hitman 3 was officially announced in June 2020, with a January 2021 release date. The title was slated for release not only on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, but also on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Interestingly, that game was intended to be the studio's debut in publishing, as the company decided to self-publish it. On November 19, 2020, IO Interactive announced its next project. A game with the working title Project 007 was to allow gamers to become James Bond himself and experience his first adventures as an agent of Her Majesty the Queen. At the time, the question was not only what genre the production would represent, but also the platforms it would be released on. The studio planned to hire new employees for this project. Furthermore, this was supposed to be IO Interactive's second self-published game. Meanwhile, the developers also revealed that a special cloud version of Hitman 3 would be coming to the Nintendo Switch.

Hitman 3 debuted on January 20, 2021. The game received "very positive" reviews on Steam and a high average rating from industry media, with Metacritic ratings ranging from 84 to 87/100 (depending on the platform); the Nintendo Switch version was an exception, with an average score of 70/100. In 2023, the game was merged with the two previous installments and transformed into a platform titled Hitman: World of Assassination.

IO Interactive itself has grown over the years. In April 2021, the company opened a third studio in Barcelona, in March 2023, it opened a fourth branch in Istanbul, and in July 2023, it established its fifth division, located in Brighton. As for the games IOI worked on after the release of Hitman 3 – in addition to Project 007, the team was developing the mysterious Project Fantasy, an online RPG.