IO Interactive hasn’t had the best year. Even though its episodic Hitman signaled a return to the sandbox levels of old and met with strong critical praise overall, the developer was still dropped by publisher Square Enix. Though it retained the rights to the Hitman franchise, many wondered what would be next.
In an open letter to fans with the launch of Hitman: Game of the Year Edition, IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak reflected on the game’s success and thanked fans for their support.
“I also want to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you, in advance, to everyone who supports us by purchasing the GOTY Edition or the Upgrade. Your support will directly help us to continue on our independent journey towards the next Hitman game and beyond.”
He noted that Hitman had 7 million players since launching though given the game’s episodic structure, this doesn’t mean that the entire season has sold 7 million copies. As for the next Hitman title, there’s something in development but we won’t learn more about it until next year. From the sound of it though, it seems IO Interactive has some interesting things planned.
“I want to let you know that we’re making great progress and we have exciting new features and some franchise firsts, which we can’t wait to tell you all about. You’ll have to wait a little longer as we don’t plan to start talking about that until some point in 2018.”
To check out Hitman: Game of the Year Edition, head on over to Steam.