The team at IO Interactive have had an interesting couple of years. They rebooted the Hitman franchise back in 2017 with a bunch of episodic content that gave a more extended experience, and it did alright. Then late last year they released a more full-on game with a sequel, and it did ok, but not to the level of the previous titles in the franchise. The question everyone asked when this was revealed was…what’s going to happen to IO Interactive?
Well according to them, nothing bad, because they’re actually going to expand their company via a brand new studio.
“We are super excited and proud to announce IOI Malmö. We will expand IOI to join a buzzling game developer community and bring our own unique IOI culture to this amazing town”, said Hakan Abrak, CEO, IO Interactive.
This may seem like an odd choice for them given the lackluster sales of Hitman 2 (even with them getting Sean Bean as a spokesperson for the title). But apparently it was enough for them to grow, and not just in the studio department.
“Furthermore, this will expand our muscles for creating brand-new and exciting endeavours, new universes, new franchises. In other words, IOI Malmö and Copenhagen are one family”, Hakan Abrak continues. “The IOI expansion in Malmö was a natural choice as there is a very strong existing video game industry. I believe it has all opportunities to become the epicentre of game development in Scandinavia.”
So it seems they’re intent on not just making a new studio, but a new IP for them as well. Time will tell though what it will be.
