IOI have stopped all hiring and it is rumoured that the Istanbul studio is closing.
The world of gaming feels so weird and uncertain lately, especially with the Microsoft news, Sony discontinuing physical discs, and lay offs everywhere. Seems like if a corner can be cut to save money, it will be.
I hope IOI is able to stay afloat despite it all.
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I think we all need to back up a few steps here. IOI released a major game a month ago and now we’ve got people practically declaring that the company is closing shop because a partner pulled out of another game’s development.
Maybe bad things will happen and maybe not, but we don’t know.
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They did balloon up in studios rather quickly after Hitman 3. But the game did well enough to warrant additional support, they started game publishing, and were ramping up on First Light and Project Fantasy at the same time.
Now that 007 is out and its sequel potential is unknown to us, their publishing attempt failed spectacularly, and Project Fantasy’s funding ceased, there is merrit to being worried for them and cuts are to be expected.
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I saw this online, so it seems the news might be legitimate! 
It feel like we’re back at that uncertain time again when Square Enix ended their partnership with IOI, but now, IOI are in a much, much more healthy position than they were back then, especially when they’ve self published the likes of Hitman III and Bond and they both did great things for the company, especially Hitman III.
For me, with the news about Project Fantasy, I think IOI should still have a smaller team working on it behind the scenes and release it sometime in the future, but I think it’s time for 47 to dust off them SilverBallers and IOI head to the drawing board and begin planning for the next Hitman game. Years ago when IOI had uncertainties around their future, 47 is who they returned to and like I’ve said above, although the company is in such a way more stable position, I think 47 is the one the IOI should be planning the future around as he’s their long-term money maker.
Keep up the good work and IOI were all still behind you!! 
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Why did it??? 
I was thinking they went from 1 studio to 2 and that made sense especially Copenhagen + Malmo as it’s a short train ride… then it was like 3 more all over.
I guess less failed in that Mindseye didn’t come out, because it did, but more about problems surrouding the game: poor critical reception leading to the CEO blaming a conspiracy against them, employees suing due to spyware, and canceling of the pre-release announced Hitman crossover.
So I guess they could try publishing again. Might be harder now but they could still try. But maybe not with a ‘Triple A’ game in my opinion.
Oh damn, I wasn’t expecting an entire studio to close. I was thinking it would just be a number trimming exercise all round.
I guess Istanbul was the main source of the Fantasy work, so it made sense for them to cut the entire studio rather than trimming all over the place.
Or they strike while the iron is hot, with the 007 franchise, and turn it into a trilogy as I believe was their plan if First Light did well. Milk the Bond as they’ve milked the Agent, while working on a third IP that’ll carry them (along with Hitman) in the post-Bond era!
I often wonder if video game companies would be in less precarious situations (and so, less susceptible to shady practices of the moneygrabbing kind) if they were part of an unrelated conglomerate. Cross Interactive would be less reliant on every game being a mass market appeal commercial success if their losses were covered by the rest of Cross Holdings, meaning they could take risks with unique storytelling and new gameplay mechanics.
Or if they’d just be dictated to by the parent company, whose corporate image is built on its subsidiaries’ actions
The thing is, IO can’t just decide to make a new Bond game, Amazon has to agree. The uncertainty of IO not owning the Bond IP and being under the thumb of someone else may be too risky or restricting for them.
Which is why they shouldn’t neglect their most famous IP, Agent 47 Man, and focus on that instead!
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I don’t know they Bond has made money yet.
We don’t know this for sure. For all we know, the deal IO has to the IP which Amazon has inherited may give them the right to develop x number of sequels before a certain date if they want to.
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Might be worth noting we could possibly see a shift in releases. Riskier new concept projects might be slower in terms of production to release in favor of the new Hitman.
it’s possible First Light might catch a stray, but a big take away is Amazon MGM and their seemingly endless assets as a good backing
This probably has been the busiest week in gaming for all the wrong reasons. Physical Media in gaming ultimately in limbo, lay offs, Microsoft, Valve, the possibility of hardware manufacturers colluding with one another to artificially manipulate the market, PS3 online store closing announcement, and a whole fiasco with digital rights.
great time to be a fan of video games. /s
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Per their Annual Report, IOI presents itself as having transformed into a multiproject studio since Hitman 3 release.
IOI sees this as a central tenet of the studio moving forward.
At the last report they had three projects: 007 First Light, Hitman WoA, and Project Fantasy.
- 007 First Light released its initial launch. The live content is also part of the project, so it’s still ongoing.
- Hitman WoA has a dedicated team, future coop, and the celebrET initiative
- Project Fantasy is under an immediate short term recalibration, longer terms are still an open question as far as we know.
I fully expect a sequel to 007. Even a trilogy.
The technology is here, the core is here. The initial investment was made.
Sequels will cost less to produce. As Hitman WoA trilogy games did.
It is the pitch.
I don’t know if the one game title was profitable compared to the whole budget spent. But I think the budget was not a single title budget. Even though I think its profit are fine.
I do not care for conspiracies. Even more when it’s disingenuous because someone just wants more Hitman, and sees it as a competition.
The question will be publication.
For Hitman WoA, I don’t know.
I think most of what Hitman did, especially the celebrETs and its communication/trailers, are using resources made for other games, as they are available in their schedule.
The motion capture studio used, and communicated on, for the celebrET stunts, or the latest trailer, was certainly created for 007 First Light. Same for the likes of new models and textures, maybe from a general support team.
Coop might be self-contained though.
I think WoA is still profitable, but it requires a dedicated team.
Human resources, and assignment, might be where IOI will need to recalibrate.
Then again, maybe the Project Fantasy and the rest of the projects were separate enough.
Maybe Hitman WoA will hold under 007 studio fundamentals.
As for Project Fantasy, no idea.
I don’t know how far into production it is.
I don’t know if the Microsoft partnership also included future servers.
I don’t know how it could impact the release and monetisation model.
Maybe it was supposed to be on Game Pass, with game pass being the subscription model, and with a recurring payout from Microsoft as the core revenue, with possible micro-transaction in addition.
Because that would mean an entire change in its approach, from “nice subsidized bonus to game pass” to “the game need to hold the price of its subscription by itself”.
I don’t know how much more investment is needed compared to potential future revenues.
I only think that immediately there is a question of being able to sustainably pay the devs.
My uneducated read:
IOI Istanbul was a support studio.
It might not have required a lot of dedicated training. I don’t think they were deep into the Glacier engine as an example.
It could be the most elastic side of IOI. So with a possibility of an easy rebound, and nothing institutional lost.
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I know. I’m sure IOI will make an official announcement, but there’s a few minor articles online about it already 
I know they’ll still be a team working on Project Fantasy, but I think you’re theory is right, this must have been the main studio that was focusing on that project, so they’ll now likely just be condensing the team.
Well IOI have already communicated with us that they’ll likely be sharing news on the next Hitman once Co-Op mode for WOA releases, so that seems like the best route IOI will be going down. With Bond, I guess with the next entry, it’s rumoured IOI won’t be self-publishing and they’ll be working with Amazon Game Studios, so whether that causes any delays with the next game remains to be seen.
Not necessarily a delay. It just means Amazon takes a larger slice of the proverbial money pie. If anything first light sequel will release sooner than expected since the foundation and house is built. It’s just a matter of assisting additions and renovating upon said house.
I’d be more concerned with the remaining live service WOA content. Celeb ET deals aren’t cheap, but are cheaper than a full fledge new level or game in terms of development and resource cost. I anticipate after this year New Celeb ET content will be few and far between.
it’s merely assumption but IOI is a business and they need to pivot where it makes sense. I’d like to see a day where HITMAN WOA is considered content complete. That day will happen but the game can only last on the Celeb ET formula for so long and that’s becoming more apparent after the Wizard release. COOP is coming but beyond ET. I’m just hoping for something more substantial that will bookend this game so the next generation of Hitman can be the focus.
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Morten Elgaard has been let-go from IOI. He was the UI designer responsible for a lot of familiar work, like Hitman and 007 challenge, location and target images. I love his work and this is super sad.
Here are some images he featured on his bluesky account.
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Sad whenever anyone loses a job. It looks like he had just the other day posted about the Microsoft cuts and same day posted IO we’re gonna keep on the project. I hope he (and all the rest) land somewhere nice.
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Damn, that sucks. I loved his work on WoA’s UI, especially target images. Hopefully, he’ll be able to bounce back soon.
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