Over the years, Agent 47 evolved into a character, his missions, methods and the world he occupied expanding ever more. Players had more creative means to take out their targets. Worlds were more open than before, prompting different ways to kill off your opposition. That was until Hitman: Absolution implemented a fair amount of linearity into missions.

"With Hitman 6, IO Interactive seems poised to go back to the open nature of the franchise. More details are pending but the new Hitman game will rely on the power of the Xbox One and PS4 to carry its open-ended maps."

Though the crux of the game still encouraged different methods for bypassing encounters, it was by and large a single-player rollercoaster ride and not the open world sandbox that the Xbox 360 and PS3 could potentially deliver.

With Hitman 6, IO Interactive seems poised to go back to the open nature of the franchise. More details are pending but the new Hitman game will rely on the power of the Xbox One and PS4 to carry its open-ended maps.

On the one hand, we’re happy that the developer is going back to what made the series popular. And who doesn’t like the ability to do things differently at more than a few points in the game?

However, there have been several other games in the past few years which have tried to implement more open-ended levels for players to hop, jump and kill through. Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes got it right for the most part but it was severely impacted by its overall length. Assassin’s Creed: Unity had the right idea but flubbed it all with its repetitive missions, glitches and a story that chose to focus on its Romeo & Juliet-esque leads more than the historical significance of events transpiring in the shadows.

At this point, you would wonder if there are many open-ended stealth games that have gotten it right. Dying Light has a good amount of hype around it and it will be worth seeing just how well the stealth plays out. However, it would seem the best example of a game where you can truly plan out your assassinations in an open ended environment – albeit in a campaign of short length – is Arkane Studios’ Dishonored. That had the benefit of magic and steampunk – what will Hitman 6 rely on?

"IO Interactive has, for the most part, always delivered a compelling release devoid of bugs and other issues. For the problems that Hitman: Absolution presented for the franchise, it was still one of the best games of 2012..."

How often can IO Interactive rely on the same gritty settings, the same Gotham-like noir and the same grim characters to carry its tone forward? Granted, there’s plenty you can do with those elements when it comes to presenting a well-rounded story and game. How different will it feel from Hitman: Absolution except that you have more options and freedom for planning out your killings?

It’s not as though severely changing the tone will automatically make things better – there are many who found issue with Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes’ emphasis on explicit violence and the all too real consequences of war.

Thankfully, these are only a few obstacles plaguing the Hitman franchise. IO Interactive has, for the most part, always delivered a compelling release devoid of bugs and other issues. For the problems that Hitman: Absolution presented for the franchise, it was still one of the best games of 2012, carrying the franchise forward with its visuals and mission editor. It sold 8 million copies worldwide since its release so there’s plenty that IO Interactive did right.

The question now remains as to how the franchise will be carried forward in light of all the advancements – and all the glitches – that many open world games have been seeing. Hitman 6 could very well redefine the franchise or even the genre. It could also just be really, really good. Is either a bad option in the end?

IO Interactive, subsidiary of Square Enix and developers of the Hitman video games, are currently working on the upcoming Hitman game that will be the 7th entry in the series. There’s very little known about the game, but it’s got a lot of hyper surrounding it that has only grown following the open letter to the fans which mentions “an open, non-linear level design approach to the game” that points towards a more open game world.

Last year, IO Interactive told fans that they would “have some details to share”, but they never made good on the claim and left fans hanging in the dark. Given that development has been ongoing, despite layoffs at IO, there’s a good chance that the new Hitman game will show its face at E3 or other industry events this year. The developer tweeted that “There’s more info coming this year and we can’t wait to share it!”

Square Enix have a big year lined up and showing off the newest Hitman game would be either a great way to open or close an event. More Agent 47 is never a bad thing.

IO Interactive has finally revealed the first concept art for its next generation Hitman title (tentatively referred to as Hitman 6). It also revealed on the official Hitman site that the game won’t be present at this year’s E3.

“We’re focusing all of our time and efforts into creating the best possible Hitman game. That’s our number one priority and we don’t want to divert valuable resources to show something before it’s ready.

“The good news is we’re making great progress with building exotic and expansive locations for the new game. To give you an idea of what we’re aiming for, here’s the first piece of concept art from the game. This location is set in Central Europe and you’ll be able to explore the entire building you see in the image, inside and out. For a sense of scale, the building on its own is larger than any location in Hitman Absolution.

“As we move through the year, we’ll have some details to share with you and we’ll keep you posted right here on the blog. We will only lift the lid on the game once we feel we’re ready to.”

The next Hitman will feature a more sandbox-like approach to the gameplay and will release on PC, Xbox One and PS4.

Square Enix recently revealed its financial report for the fiscal year ending on March 31st 2014 and while the publisher reported a $65 million profit, it also reduced its game sales forecast from 17.23 million in the previous year to 12 million for the coming fiscal year. What could that mean?

According to research analyst David Gibson on Twitter, it implies that Square Enix won’t be releasing many big games for the coming year – including Final Fantasy 15. “Square Enix forecast of game units falling to 12m implies no FF15 in the year ending Mar 2015.”

Given that Final Fantasy 15 is perhaps one of the biggest, if not the biggest, project over at Square Enix, it’s simply ludicrous to not factor it into sales forecasts – unless it indeed isn’t out in the next year. Square Enix hasn’t really revealed its line-up for fiscal year ending on March 31st 2015 aside from rumours of Hitman 6 and Deus Ex at E3 2014. For now though, chances are high that Final Fantasy 15 won’t be on it. Stay tuned for more information.

The screens in question show varying moods. In one, we see the familiar Agent 47, with his leather gloves and Highroller pistol standing against a rainy cityscape. In another, we see him entering a court house, a crowd of protesters and policemen waiting outside as a reporter covers the goings-on. And in yet another, we see a man with the same face as 47 but longer hair leaping back, Matrix-style, while firing dual machine guns.

We were promised a different look into the series with this next iteration. We were also told that Square Enix Montreal will ping-pong development with the parent company, in the same way that Treyarch and Infinity Ward tag-team on a yearly basis with the Call of Duty series. That means a new Hitman every year. A new yearly sequel.

And it’s actually quite brilliant when one stops to think about it.

Square Enix, after purchasing Eidos Interactive, found itself with a wealth of new IPs and no real direction for them. Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a one-off. The new Tomb Raider is trying to go to the roots of the series, and start over, hopefully establishing a new franchise in the process (that depends, of course, on its success). Hitman: Absolution is the first real sequel to a franchise from the Eidos era that continues the original mythos. It’s an expansion of the core gameplay, rather than a renovation. It’s big-budget but still supremely intelligent in it’s approach, like Assassin’s Creed 2 when it first released.

With the struggles that Square Enix have had trying to establish a foothold in the Western game publishing market, a yearly Hitman game that can bring in the moolah is precisely what they need. Games like Sleeping Dogs are all well and good, but it’s something solid and stable that the Japanese giant needs above everything else. And then consider those who’ve established the yearly sequel model and are reaping great rewards like Assassin’s Creed, whose latest sequel went on to become the biggest software launch in Ubisoft’s entire history of development.

Square Enix, for it’s part, recognizes that the Japanese gaming industry isn’t what it used to be. JRPGs are no longer made by the hundreds and sold in the millions. Even established franchises like Final Fantasy weren’t doing anywhere near the level of business that higher profile games like Halo were doing. The company is at a level where they’re convinced that their ideas for Final Fantasy XIII will succeed if geared more towards Western gamers. That it’s become one of the more universally reviled franchises in gaming is a different matter. A yearly sequel for a high profile series, that too in the Western market, will give them the kind of returns they never could’ve achieved even in Final Fantasy’s best days.

If nothing else, it’s only the beginning. The more successes it has, the more yearly sequels the publisher will seek to establish. It’s a risk, as all AAA sequels are, but it’s one with tons of reward.

And sadly, it’s yet another blow to the gaming industry where the norm is to go big or go home; where blockbusters and big brands are replacing quality and innovation; where Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 can allegedly sell 11 million copies in it’s first week and feature some of the shittiest textures matched by the clumsiest additions and the most boring of gunplay; where a high profile release like Assassin’s Creed 3 still has bugs, even with patch after patch; where your best chance for innovation is to cut your teeth in the indie market and Kickstarter campaigns; where, quite frankly, mid-tier development goes to die.

It’ll be nice for a while – it usually is, until monontony sets in. And this “new look” at the Hitman series could either be Square Enix dumbing down the gameplay to make it more accessible or just expanding further on the experience from Absolution. Either way, it’ll be what sells. And it’ll continue, until a humongous backlash hits it like it would hit all the other big names.

Will that day ever come? Even the mighty Guitar Hero fell with it’s constant, never-ending stream of sequels. Then again, FIFA and Madden are still going strong. Either way, the ball is in Square Enix’s court. Let’s hope they bring their AAA-game.

The concept art shows Agent 47 in the background, waltzing into a court house which is seemingly under lockdown as police cordone off the scene and a reporter, er, reports on the proceedings. Oddly enough, we can also see a crowd of protestors, one of them holding up a sign that says “Don’t Feed Greed” a bit to the left of where 47 is standing. Curious.

Square-Enix Montreal has been designated for developing the next Hitman game, which will seemingly launch in 2013. It features several members of IO Interactive, who worked on Absolution, and both the Montreal Studio and Square-Enix will alternate duties for developing the franchise. Which means yet another high profile franchise has gone the yearly sequel route.

Joy.

Update:
More artwork has arrived via Eidos Montreal’s Twitter and SchaffiGames.

Source: Videogamer