IO Interactive Becomes Independent Studio, Retains Rights to Hitman

IO Interactive Becomes Independent Studio, Retains Rights to Hitman

The former Square Enix dev studio is going it alone and taking Hitman with it.

News by Tom Orry, Audience Development Manager, Gamer Network

Updated on 5 June 2019

Hitman will continue development at IO Interactive following the studio’s move to independence. IO has concluded a management buyout with Square Enix and announced that the rights to Hitman are coming along for the ride.

News of IO’s independence came in a blog post from IO-Interactive CEO, Hakan Abrak:

"...I am proud to announce today that IOI is now officially an independent studio. We have successfully concluded our negotiations with Square Enix and have agreed to a management buyout. Crucially, we will keep all of the rights to the Hitman IP," stated Abrak.

"As of today, we have complete control over the direction for our studio and the Hitman IP – we’re about to forge our own future and it’s incredibly exciting," he added. "We are now open to opportunities with future collaborators and partners to help strengthen us as a studio and ensure that we can produce the best games possible for our community."

The latest Hitman has been a big hit with fans.

Abrak added that IOI wants to encourage more players to try out the new Hitman, with more details on how they’ll do that coming next week.

Back in May Square Enix revealed it was looking to sell IOI, and it was assumed the dev house would be picked up by a publisher, with Hitman’s future looking uncertain. Fans will no doubt be thrilled to know that the franchise is staying with its creators.

It is unclear if other IOI developed properties, such as Kane & Lynch remain owned by Square Enix.

Hitman: Season One ranks as one of the best PS4 games of all time. Take a look at what else you should buy in our guide.

Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. See our terms & conditions.

More about Hitman

Tom Orry

Audience Development Manager, Gamer Network

Tom started life on a circus in Australia before his family moved to the UK. His love of gaming started soon after, which essentially meant he bought every video game magazine available and worked numerous part-time jobs as a child in order to afford costly N64 games. He created UK site VideoGamer.com, of which he was the Editor for over a decade. He now doesn't like circuses.

Related articles

PlayStation 5 Update Lets You Know If You're About to Play the PS4 Version of Game

Check yourself before you last-gen yourself.

Stardew Valley Just Got Beaches, Fish Tanks, Swimming Ducks, and a Whole Lot More

Nearly five years on, Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone just pushed what he says is Stardew's "biggest update yet."

Alien: Isolation Is Free on Epic and Just As Good as It Was in 2014

Get the motion tracker and don't go in the vents.

Shigeru Miyamoto Expresses Confidence in the Younger Generation of Nintendo

The legendary creator says the spirit will stay alive.

You may also like

USgamer Staff Past and Present Say Goodbye

End of an era.

Press Start to Continue

A look back on what we tried to accomplish at USgamer, and the work still to be done.

Mat's Farewell | The Truth Has Not Vanished Into Darkness

This isn't the real ending, is it? Can't be.

Eric's Farewell | Off to Find a New Challenger

It's time for us to move on, but we'll carry USG with us wherever we go.