Square Enix drops IO Interactive
"There can be no guarantees," publisher warns as it hunts for a buyer for Hitman developer
Square Enix is dropping IO Interactive, the Danish studio behind the long-running Hitman franchise.
In a statement released today, the Japanese publisher said the decision was part of a strategy to "focus our resources and energies on key franchises and studios."
The withdrawal was in effect as of the end of the last financial year, on March 31, 2017, and resulted in a ¥4.9 billion ($43 million) extraordinary loss on the company's balance sheet.
Square Enix has already started discussion with potential new investors, the company said. "Whilst there can be no guarantees that the negotiations will be concluded successfully, they are being explored since this is in the best interests of our shareholders, the studio and the industry as a whole."
IO Interactive was acquired by Eidos in 2003, just before it launched Hitman: Contracts, the third game in what was already its signature franchise. Eidos was acquired by Square Enix in 2009, and it has launched four games in the time since: Mini Ninjas, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, Hitman: Absolution, and Hitman, last year's episodic take on its most celebrated IP.
The bold new structure implemented in Hitman saw the game's missions being separately on digital platforms, with various live events and challenges taking place between the release of each one. Square Enix released the game in a box earlier this year. It has never disclosed official numbers regarding the sales figures for Hitman, either as a series or for individual episodes.
However, the series' ámbition was widely appreciated within the games press - it was named 11th best game of 2016 by Eurogamer, for example, and was Giant Bomb's overall Game of the Year. When we talked to IO studio head Hannes Seifert last year, he described the pride his team felt at the "new feeling" the game created, and made it clear that plans for Hitman extended far beyond a single season of epsiodes.
"When we say an ever expanding world of assassination, it means we don't have to take everything that's out there, throw it away and make a new game," he said. "We can actually build on that. Just imagine after two or three seasons, you enter at that point in time, the amount of content will just blow your mind. That's where we want to be."
Seifert stepped down as IO's studio head in February this year. He was replaced by Hakan Abrak, IO's former studio production director.