Hitman Franchise to be Developed by Two Teams

The next game in the Hitman franchise will be developed at the new Square Enix Montreal studio rather than IO Interactive, creating an arrangement similar to the one that exists around development of the Call of Duty titles.

Speaking to OPM, Hitman: Absolution director Tore Blystad shared his hopes about what this would mean for the franchise, explaining he believes the series will reap the benefits of a "fresh perspective".

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It’s like with Treyarch and Infinity Ward. You have an IP that has been developed. They will feed off each other, as well as somethings that stand out. I think with these big franchises it takes a long time to develop just one game.

"It’s like with Treyarch and Infinity Ward," Blystad revealed. "You have an IP that has been developed. They will feed off each other, as well as somethings that stand out. I think with these big franchises it takes a long time to develop just one game. If you can, work a little bit in parallel at least and help each other out."

Almost nothing is known about the next game in the Hitman franchise, which isn't hugely surprising seeing as Hitman: Absolution only released this week, to great reviews. Rumours have been swirling that the next entry in the series will be for the next-gen consoles but, regardless, Blystad goes on to suggest that a host of fresh new ideas are on the way.

"We’ve been talking about these similarities to some of the big movie franchise like Aliens, where everyone’s doing it their own way. Every time someone gets their hands on a franchise they do something different. So rather than doing the same thing again you get another take on the character from a fresh perspective."

Anyone worried that this means the next game may alter Agent 47 too much though shouldn't panic just yet; the team are apparently aware that messing with certain aspects of the game could throw everything else off. As a result, IO and Square Enix Montreal are working closely together to identify what should change, and what should stay the same.

"Well there are talks between us and of course it has to be somewhat in sync but it’s the first time you could say Hitman has gone out of the house,” Blystad admitted. "Luckily it’s with someone we know. Some of the key developers came from IO and have been working on previous games so it’s not like it’s in completely new hands."

So if that's what Square Enix are up to, what's left for IO to do? Sadly Blystad wouldn't be drawn on specifics, but it seems the dev is already hard at work on a mysterious new title.

"Some people have already moved on to a new project. I think they felt a little bit flushed they just got mown straight in production again," he teased.

Any ideas on what this mystery project could be?

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com