‘Hitman’ is “on hiatus” as developer focuses on James Bond game
IO Interactive has shared that any “major” new Hitman game is on “a little bit of a hiatus,” as the studio focuses on creating its upcoming James Bond game.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Christian Elverdam – the co-owner of IO Interactive and its chief creative officer – suggested that fans may be kept waiting for another Hitman game.
“Right now a major, major new Hitman game: that’s a little bit on hiatus as we’re building another agent fantasy that’s also taking up a lot of our time,” said Elverdam. “But obviously we’ll come back to beloved Agent 47. He’s still very much in the heart of this company.”
Elverdam’s “agent fantasy” comment is a reference to a James Bond game currently in development at IO Interactive, which is currently going by Project 007 as a working title.
Project 007 was announced in 2020, and will tell an origin story for James Bond that sees the special agent earning his 00 rank, which in the films and Ian Fleming novels is a license to kill during missions.
In 2021, IO Interactive confirmed that Project 007 will tell “a completely original story” and give Bond a new look.
“[It] was very important for us that it wasn’t a movie adaptation. So, it wasn’t a game about… a specific movie, where the story has already been told,” explained IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak. “Every Bond kind of defines a generation and it’s amazing how they kept reinventing themselves over so many years.”
The game was “already in full swing” at IO Interactive by 2021, and Abrak separately shared that the studio’s pitch “went straight to the heart of Barbara Broccoli herself“.
In other gaming news, the developer behind Star Citizen has apologised for a “super rough start” to its latest update.
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Andy Brown
NME
