Hitman developer IO Interactive has opened a new studio in Brighton, UK, further growing its worldwide operations. The developer’s Brighton team becomes its fifth studio, joining its headquarters in Copenhagen, a studio in Malmo, which was opened in 2019, studio in Barcelona, which was opened in 2021, and a studio in Istanbul, which was established earlier this year.
IOI Brighton already has a small team set up, which means that unlike the developer’s previous new studios, it won’t be starting from scratch. Currently, the Brighton team is focused on Project Fantasy, IO Interactive’s Xbox console exclusive online fantasy RPG, which was officially confirmed to be in development earlier this year.
Naturally, however, IOI Brighton will be expanding over the coming months as it recruits more talent, and will eventually also begin working on the developer’s James Bond game, which is currently known simply as Project 007.
“The studio is for all projects,” said IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak while speaking with GamesIndustry. “We are working a bit differently compared to other companies. They’re more like ‘this studio is working on this project’ or ‘this studio is doing some elements of this project’. Across our studios, our projects are front and centre. Which means anybody, regardless of what studio or country they’re working from, they can work criss-cross on different projects. It’s not like in Istanbul they’re on 007, and in Brighton they’re only doing Project Fantasy… they can all work on the different projects.”
Abrak also says IO Interactive will continue to grow and plans to expand to over 400 people across its five studios within the coming 18 months. Currently, the company’s total headcount sits at slightly under 300 employees.
“I think most of the people needed for Project Fantasy and Project 007 are in place. There will be a bit more growing, and it’s not hard to imagine that IO will be closer to 400 people in another year or 18 months from now,” he said.
As for when the two aforementioned titles will be out, IO Interactive said last year that neither Project Fantasy nor Project 007 will be out anytime before at least 2025. Meanwhile, the Hitman franchise is currently “a little bit on hiatus”, according to the developer.