I suspect we’ll see him again before that. If they were just now getting started on Project 007, and whatever other stuff they’re working on that nobody cares about and won’t be interested in*, then I’d say that might be true. But, since all of that is already moving along, I’m banking on more of a 4-5 year wait, so around 2027-28. No basis for it, just my suspicion, based off where they likely are on the rest of their to-do list.
*(IOI is kind of the Guillermo del Toro of game companies: preparing to put out all this original stuff as their next project, when all their consumer base wants is Hellboy 3/Hitman)
Project 007 is an origin story = they are planning to make it a franchise. Probably at least three games. I’m betting at least 7-10 years before a new Hitman installment. Hopefully WOA will have updates though, as it’s their bread and butter at this point.
The mission of IOI Istanbul is to establish a hub for AAA game development in the region and create unique game experiences for our players across the world. Our team in Istanbul will play a significant role in our ambitious productions: Project 007, Project Fantasy and HITMAN.
According to the article of the new studio opening in Istanbul.
It was correct the first time. Other than, between the two respective sources, Pan’s Labyrinth and the first Kane and Lynch, what other projects released by either have been successful as their bases await the next installment to the franchises they’re famous for? A relative handful of interested parties aside, there’s no real interest (currently) in anything else IOI has or will put out except more Hitman, or the never-to-be Hellboy 3 in the case of Mr. Toro. Always subject to change, of course, but for now…
kane and lynch were janky as fuck but they are a charmingly awful pair. you don’t get many video protagonists with that spot on mix of vile and intrigue. they’re a couple of absolute messes. love em.
i, for one, would like to see more of their poor impulse control and inability to make good long-term decisions, especially if it comes with that awesome dog days aesthetic and diabolical multiplayer.
just wish they’d do for robberies what hitman did for assassinations.
Freedom Fighters is awesome but it was too short.
I remember thinking when I reached the mission where you kill the main antagonist: wait, already?
Music was awesome!
Hopefully it won’t be 10 years, but I guess time will time on that. Also, I wouldn’t have thought every IOI employee would be working on Bond at the same time. The team that’s currently supporting Hitman could very well start early planning etc in say in a couple of years time perhaps? To be fair, nobody actually knows and we could be here theorising for hours
Also on the second point, I expect a couple of updates and stuff for Freelancer this coming year and other parts of the WOA may very well get updates as well.
I’m grateful for them making Hitman 2016, and then 2 and 3, I’m still amazed by it, I just hope they upgrade the engine for the new generation and make a more complete game next time. Hitman 2016 started of by releasing one mission after the other, and although very fun, the game have always felt a bit Beta’ish. Absolution may be different, but what Absolution succeeded with was making a story with atmosphere, they had a vision with that game, and therefore felt more complete, IMO.
I remember back in 2016 when people complained about the levels never really felt like they took place in the countries they were supposed to take place in due to the accents of the actors, and I agree, these past 3 games have had amazing locations, but it have never felt like you were actually there, therefore I hope for the next game they really travel to these locations and consider making it more immersive.
For the story, I just find it cool how they did it with Blood Money, the villain talking about past missions that you get to play out, so cool! This way they can fit a game in between the others without really making drastic changes that people may not like.
Just make a new game with a new upgraded engine and I think people will be happy.
I think the future of IO and Hitman looks bright, and its certainly been reflected in the quality of the trilogy and all the recent expansion/growth in IO interactive with the launch of new studio locations, lots of hiring, and great sales figures for Hitman 3 despite all the past struggles with separating from Square Enix (which in retrospect was clearly a good decision as we have seen with Square Enix’s current performances and shortcomings).
With Project 007, as well as that new fantasy title IO is working on, its clear that they are looking to diversify their portfolio, which is something they desperately needed to do (as much as I love Hitman and would love for IO to pump out nothing but bigger and better Hitman games, its what’s best for the quality of the games and survivability of the studio).
My predictions for the future of Hitman and IO are as follows:
Project 007 will be great, I think IO is definitely in their wheelhouse here and they will make several efforts to strengthen combat, enemy variety, AI, progression/upgrades, and possibly dialogue (who knows, maybe project 007 will have RPG elements like Deus Ex). Maybe it will be a trilogy of entries and maybe it won’t who is to say with how little we know right now?
I think IO will make a heist based stealth game with multiplayer PvE elements in a similar vein to Payday 2 (I think it would be like if you had a heist based Hitman game with a possible element of multiplayer: with players coordinating takedowns and opportunities. If I were to go REALLY crazy with these predictions I would say it would be based in the Hitman universe with the main characters being The Yardbirds and detailing their extensive heisting career and eventual fall. A bit far fetched I know, but I think that The Yardbird narrative had a strange focus/emphasis on it during the course of the trilogy with some vague foreshadowing of them messing with a large organization as though it was hyping up something
It will likely be a while before we see 47 and the Hitman franchise directly again, however I think their next entry in the series will be their best and boldest yet. I think that it will effectively be as if you made Freelancer the whole focus of the game. I think it will be like if you mixed Xcom 2 / Evil genius with Freelancer, elements of safehouse base building / upgrades, world map asset management combined with classic hitman mission gameplay while fighting off threats both on the ground in missions and while you and your assets move around on the world map. I actually want to make a post / thread about this idea later about what it would be like, what the developmental challenges would be, and what would be added / ideal.
Eventually as well, I think we will get remakes of some of the old Hitman games. I still think that’s a loooong way off though and that there are several innovations to AI and the main gameplay loop that need to or will occur before IO heads in this direction though. The formula is better than its ever been, but there are still some refinements and tweaking to be done before its ready for a series wide retrospect though.
Yikes, I hope not. And I hope we don’t see any remakes or reboots until the series is brought to an actual narrative end, which will likely be when David Bateson can’t voice 47 anymore. Of course, once that happens, unless he takes the James Earl Jones route and gives IOI permission to use old recordings and computers to replicate his voice, I’m bugging out of the series.
It’s probably because I didn’t explain it that well (and again I eventually plan on making a thread / discussion about what a game of this kind of style would be like and what people would want from it), I don’t mean like as a 1:1 copy of freelancer’s entire system with completely randomly generated targets with no story on a small handful of reused maps. I mean more as kind of taking down entire syndicate networks in normal missions of various sizes and types while moving yourself and your assets across and around a world map with an emphasis on random elements interplaying with it (assassins, lookouts, missions being more alerted / regions having high “heat” from recent actions, additional payout objectives, interactions with a monetary system, more extensive and less rigid preplanning, etc.).
I think the freelancer we have is more of a testing ground for how many of these mechanics could / would eventually work on a wider and much more detailed scale in a later game by IO, whether it be Project 007 or an eventual next Hitman game (and that was part of it’s justification for its creation).
Oh no, I got all that. I just want a return to the formula of simply being told who the target is and all relevant info, and we just go and kill them. All this shuffle with Freelancer is a cute little experiment just for a change, but I in no way want it to continue past this point. No optional objectives, no lookouts, no assassin guards, let’s get back to the traditional formula that’s just all about the target being the sole contract.
When the next game eventually comes around, I hope we at least see 47 briefly start off the new story in the Freelancer Safehouse before he inevitably moves on. I think 47 and Diana will start up some form of ICA structure again, but until then I think he’ll remain at the Safehouse until this happens.
