It’s been a week since IO Interactive’s Hitman 3 launched to critical acclaim. The stealth sandbox title managed to top UK retail charts, having higher sales than Hitman 2, and also enjoyed the biggest digital launch in series history. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, CEO Hakan Abrak revealed that project costs were recouped in less than a week and is already profitable.
Abrak stated that, “We have been really happy with the Hitman 3 journey. It has been a labor of love between our fans and everyone at the studio. As the developer and publisher, we are immensely proud that we can say Hitman 3 is already profitable. We have recouped the total project costs in less than a week. That puts us in a really good place and allows us to confidently move forward with our ambitious plans for future projects.”
This achievement is especially more noteworthy when you consider that Hitman 3 was self-published by IO Interactive. The first game was published by Square Enix while Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment published the sequel. Abrak noted that this approach helped deliver a title that its fans would love.
“We’ve been able to create a game that our players will love and bring it to them in the most direct way possible; developed and published by IOI. Having that focus early on has kept us on a path that we all believed in. Everyone at the studio was behind the vision for the game and they know the Hitman universe better than anyone.
“That combination makes us very effective as a publisher because we have our creative and development teams working closely with publishing and marketing throughout the entire project. We need that collaboration because we all want to create a quality product.
“We demand of each other that our games are hand-crafted, meticulously detailed and unique. At this point, we’d be doing our community a disservice if we delivered anything less than that. They’re used to us setting a really high bar for quality and memorable experiences, so we keep that mentality at the front of our mind, not only for Hitman but also our future projects.”
Hitman 3 is currently available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch (via the cloud), Google Stadia and PC. Check out our review for it here.
With the World of Assassination trilogy wrapped up, IO Interactive is looking forward to its next title – Project 007, based on the famous James Bond. Its official platforms haven’t been announced but Abrak said he could “easily imagine” trilogy for the same. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.