Hitman Devs Were in Such Bad Situation That Some Companies Offered $1 for Them

In 2017, IO Interactive regained its independence. The team bought itself out from its previous owner, Square Enix, also obtaining all rights to the Hitman series. Now we have learned a little more about this event and some of the facts are very surprising.

1. After the failure of Hitman: Absolution Square Enix decided that there was no point to continue investing large sums of money in IO Interactive. It was an extremely difficult project. The game took as long as seven years to make and cost much more than originally expected. What was popular at the start of the work at the time of the project's release had already gone out of fashion, so the project turned out to be a big flop.
2. Therefore, the studio's next game, Hitman, was less cinematic and less expensive to make. Square Enix forced the episodic model, hoping to reach a wider audience. The project turned out to be another flop, as instead of buying episodes, most players preferred to wait until the whole thing was available.
3. The failure of Hitman made Square Enix decide to sell IO Interactive. This came as no special surprise to the developers, as the studio had never made a profit for the publisher over the past ten years.
4. Buying offers were extremely low - a few companies even offered a bare dollar, as the cost of maintaining the studio was high. Other potential partners wanted to lay off 80% of the staff and switch Hitman to free-to-play model.
5. In the end, the developers bought themselves out. We don't know for what amount, but the key to success was to leave Square Enix a minority stake in the studio. IO Interactive's CEO was forced to lay off some of the staff, but eventually the team managed to regain its independence.
6. Hitman 2 was cheap enough to make (it was built, after all, on the foundations of the previous installment) that it enabled the studio to survive and later develop Hitman 3, which in turn proved to be a major success.

Currently, IO Interactive is in a good place. The studio is working on a fantasy game and a title starring James Bond. The creators revealed that initially the owners of the 007 brand were not willing to license it to game developers, but the more elegant formula of the new installments of Hitman convinced them that the game would not be a primitive shooter.

Recall that Hitman 3 was released in 2021. The game is available on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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Hitman 3

January 20, 2021

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• Hitman (franchise)
• Square Enix
• mergers and acquisitions
• IO Interactive