They’ve definitely mentioned it on Twitter and Bluesky. I gave the only response that felt fitting.
Having said that, I don’t think this was mentioned in their email newsletter. Which is a slow way to get news already, but still.
To put this crossover in the word of Twitter users:
I was thinking about the broader media landscape because of course the Hitman socials are going to be talking about. Also those socials don’t seem to be too flash either, maybe the Twitter post got some eyeballs but I don’t really trust the metrics Twitter uses to count things as “viewed” also I can barely use Twitter as somebody who has no interest in signing up for the site. (That has nothing to do with the post but I just wanted to say Musk really fucking ruined that site)
Like I said this was just FunTimes or whatever just giving IO a check and IO just took it because Hakan needs calfskin-handled and monogrammed golf clubs or something.
“pissed again”
I don’t play mobile games and have never even really looked into them, so I have no idea what the general gaming consumer base feels about them, or why it would upset Hitman fans. So long as actual Hitman games continue to be released, I’m not really concerned about its brand being diluted.
A brand is about the expectations customers have about the products of a certain company. Ideally, a company wants to have a strong brand, i. e. customers believe the company makes products that are useful, reliable, trustworthy, worthwhile etc. or generally speaking valuable.
Playing the World of Assassination trilogy has led me to believe, that IOI is a company that makes games with a lot of attention and care. They put in effort to create stunningly detailed maps like Sapienza and they worked hard to refine the core mechanics of their games over time to come up with what is one of the best stealth franchises in the world. By doing so they have created a strong brand and players trust IOI and are more likely to buy their new games in the future.
State of Survival on the other hand is the exact opposite. It’s a convoluted mess that’s not fun to play, judging from the 1.5 hours that I’ve tried it. The actual fights are not very challenging and the base building is not intriguing. There are arbitrary hurdles. For example, the construction or upgrade of buildings or the training of troops takes time. This is not fun, but it can be alleviated by spending real money to speed those processes up. State of Survival does try to be engaging, but not to deliver fun gaming experiences, but to extract as much money from customers as possible in the form of microtransactions.
In my opinion, IOI’s cooperation with State of Survival damages the Hitman brand. Same goes for IOI’s unwillingness to fix major bugs like the “Arrange a meeting” prestige objective or the fact that the recent patches introduced new bugs that should’ve been easily spotted. Do IOI still care about their games and their players?
What does that ultimately mean? Different people will come to different conclusions for this question. For me personally it means, that I’m less likely to trust IOI. If they release a new game, I will be less optimistic that it is actually fun to play and worth my time. For games that I’m already not really interested in, like their Project Fantasy, it means that I’m not going pay much attention to it. On the other hand, I’m very much interested in the next Hitman game. If it turns out to be a great game, I will be playing it. But I’m less likely now to buy it at launch, because I’m not sure if it will actually be a fun game and I’d rather spend more time looking into it, before I decide to make a purchase.
The issue is State of Survivals player numbers are predominantly in China where these type of games are popular. By extension Chinas Gaming Market compared to what it was in 2015 is now comprised of 70% Mobile Gamers with the remaining percentage covering PC, Consoles, Etc. On top of that 70% the Mobile Game Market is over saturated and bloated to where the title doesn’t even make top 30 within the regions charts.
For perspective State of Survival had a reported 100 Million Downloads, how many of those downloads still play the game consistently?
With the information I got that was readily available on the interest, new articles, etc. While state of survival may have had success and been revived with an “30” million player downloads cause of the walking dead crossover. The reality of it all is this is IO tapping into another market that really won’t net them much attention. Said market is out east which again is a really hard thing to do given the state of mobile gaming in places like China.
I want to reiterate that IO does have options for Cross Overs, it’s just a matter on if they will do them or want them. State of Survival is just tone depth especially towards the community. The said community who would want 47 in stuff like Fortnite. I said they could have done Call of Duty even if it would be surreal hearing David Bateson talk about Zombies.
Couple of hour ago I was informed of this by BlossomFox, who mentioned that IGN had uploaded it the day before the announcement.
I mean, BlossomFox did a pretty detailed post on that.
So you don’t care about how 47’s image (IOI’s image doesn’t exist anymore) is being treated and where they throw the characters?
Any place outside of Hitman is a place 47 doesn’t belong, and they’ve already featured him in other media. Hitman had also never been big, it’s always been like a garage band whose album you keep in your back pocket. It’s only started getting well-known with WoA, but it’s never needed to rely on that. As long as they can still make good Hitman games, I’m not concerned how the rest of the gaming world views it. If it starts to affect their ability to do so, then I’ve got a problem.
Maybe I’m mistaken, but hasn’t Hitman always been a pretty well known franchise in gaming? It’s not Super Mario or anything, but I don’t think one should lump it together with obscure indie titles. It also had a movie grossing 125 ish million in 2007.
Well, I never gave my ultimate opinion either way as I didn’t know much about the developers at FunPlus games, hence why I asked for further info.
Yeah it’s always been pretty big and 47 has a cult following as he’s one of the most popular gaming characters out there. Also, WOA trilogy put Hitman in even further spot spots as IOI have made a lot of revenue over the past couple of years.
Has it? How often is it referenced or mentioned, prior to 2016? How many knew it was a game until the movie? I’m not saying it’s been obscure, but it’s never been a big name franchise. If it had disappeared after Blood Money, how many outside the Hitman base would have even noticed? I suspect the number is not impressive.
If it’s always been pretty big, then it wouldn’t have a cult following. The nature of a cult following is that it is in regards to something that is either not considered very popular or well-known outside its fanbase, or that doesn’t have a high amount of extreme dedication even if it is well-known. Hitman has never really been big until it got to the current era, where it’s continued presence for the past nine years and its differentiating itself from most other games available in that time (lack of real multiplayer, puzzle-solving open-world sandbox rather than action-based one, etc.) has allowed it to finally garner widespread attention.
Going back to my point, even if that acclaim were to take a hit, so long as the series can continue, I’m not particularly bothered by it being associated with other games, even ones of bad reputation. I already love Hitman, and once I love something, I never abandon it. It must be forcibly taken from me. At this point, I would only have true issue with the brand if they abandoned David Bateson, or tried to continue if he were to pass away. Beyond that, unless I’m incarcerated, comatose, deceased, have my hands amputated, or all devices that the games can be played on are rendered nonfunctional and so cannot be physically played at all, I’m not gonna give up on Hitman, ever. So, it doesn’t really matter what problematic things IOI may be doing with the brand. I may not like it, but it’s not a deal breaker, I’m already committed for good. If anything, the lack of proper updates instead of stuff like this is what’s bothering me.
Exactly how I’m feeling right now, yeah
Feels like every youtuber I watched had an Abso playthrough back in the day.
Don’t keep an album in your back pocket, it’ll get crushed when you sit on it :[
I don’t know what this narrative about Hitman being akin to some unknown garageband is. I always saw it as a core pillar of 2000s gaming. It was all over magazines, especially when BM came out. Well established and popular for its time I’d say. Anecdotal, but I recall alot of non gamers knowing what it was back then.
Are you sure? What are we, if not cult followers to a major, succesful videogame franchise? I don’t think cult following must necessarily mean the thing is unknown.
You like Breaking Bad, right?
Picture this hypothetical scenario: Bryan Cranston makes an advertisement featuring Breaking Bad and makes a collab with Trump.
How would you feel about that? How you would feel about Cranston and the show? Because, given the circumstances, it’s basically the same thing.
It would affect my opinion of Cranston. I wouldn’t vote for him if he ran for office, or invite him over for dinner if I met him in person, if such a thing were the case. It would not affect my enjoyment of Breaking Bad or the rest of his work whatsoever, because who he is as a person has nothing to do with his work. It is a separate thing. It would be like not enjoying Space Jam anymore just because its theme song is by R. Kelly; one has nothing to do with the other. Separation of art and artist is a thing. Now, this only applies when I’ve come to love a form of art. If it’s something I wasn’t big on to begin with, I have no problem avoiding it or cutting it off, but if it’s something I’m already fully in, as long as it still entertains me, I stick with it. I might dislike those involved, but that’s another thing entirely.
I get your point. The person thing wasn’t the best comparison, as it was the company that arranged the deal.
I don’t agree with you entirely, but I can see thing with your POV.
I know some can’t separate the art and artist. It blows my mind, particularly when it’s something you really like, how do you just let it go because someone associated with it is wrong in some way? That shouldn’t affect your enjoyment of the thing, just diminish your opinion of those involved. But then, I lived a life with very few meaningful connections with other people, and while I don’t regret this because people suck, it has caused me to develop personal attachments to my entertainment sources that are all but impossible to sever as a result. Most people have not gone the same route, so while I don’t understand the stance, I understand why most take a path that leads to that stance while I don’t.
As far as the company, I really only care about Hitman, and so I only care about IOI insofar as they provide Hitman. As their care for it has begun to, shall we say, slouch lately, my opinion of them has diminished, but in a detached manner. I only care what they do insofar as it hinders my direct enjoyment of the game, and since the content and patches have been crappy lately, I’d be perfectly fine if another company took over the property, so long as they treated it the way IOI no longer seems to. At the same time, should that turn around and they start providing good content and fixes again, making the game at peak enjoyment again, what they do outside of that is not a concern of mine, good or ill. They are a means to an end for me.
It’s basically impossible to separate the art from the artist when the artist is still alive and profiting from their work.
