‘Hitman’ Season 2: Io-Interactive Confirms Development At New Studio

Hitman developer Io-Interactive has undergone some significant changes this week, moving their studio to a new, “ultra-modern” facility in Copenhagen. The company has revamped their logo to go with their new workspace, where development of Hitman is planned to continue with a second season.

We have moved into a new studio – and we have a new company logo!https://t.co/kjjOLYPgiZ pic.twitter.com/MxxaiPYbfb

— IO Interactive (@IOInteractive) November 10, 2016

The team at Io-Interactive is already working on Hitman Season 2, as confirmed by Studio Production Director Hakan Abrak during an interview at Paris Games Week. Although development is still in progress, Abrak notes Season 2 is planned to be added on to the existing Hitman platform so to speak. New destinations are going to be added to the World of Assassination, but no specific locations have been confirmed. Unlocks from Season 1 are planned to carry over into Season 2, and players can expect to see some locations and characters return in the forthcoming episodes as well.

Although cities from Season 1 are to be revisited, fans should not assume Agent 47 is going to be executing hits in the same exact areas of those cities. Should Agent 47 return to Paris in Season 2, the idea is that he wouldn’t be going to the same fashion show he infiltrated in Season 1. Instead, his missions may take him to another part of the city; and, he could return during a different time of the year, which would highlight the seasonal changes in the city and illustrate the passage of time as the storyline progresses. These are some of the elements the studio is considering for episodes in Season 2.

Gamers who have upgraded to the PlayStation 4 Pro this week can play through the entire first season of Hitman in 4K. An update went live upon the PS4 Pro’s release to make Hitman compatible with the new system. Hannes Seifert, studio head of Io-Interactive, mentioned in a statement to the press that the update aligns with their development studio’s vision for the future of gaming. “With Hitman we made a live game which is constantly improving and the PS4 Pro aligns perfectly with that vision of constant improvement, we’re proud to support it,” he said.

How is the Agent 47 experience different in 4K? The developer outlines the specific enhancements as follows.

“Offering the latest visual and technical enhancements, on the PS4 Pro, Hitman has had a whole new layer of detail added to it; the overall resolution has been increased, aliasing reduced, reflective surfaces improved and we get more detailed lighting effects, all without compromising the frame rate or the overall gaming experience. A clean and crisp UI rendered natively in 4K, furthermore it uses the extra memory of the PS4 Pro to stream in higher quality textures, yielding more details.”

As the developer further details, those without a 4K setup are also supposed to see some visual improvements.

“Players without 4K will also benefit from the increased resolution as the image will be downsampled to 1080p to benefit from higher quality shading and less flickering highlights.”

Taking an episodic approach with the Hitman reboot has been a significant risk for the developer, but it seems to be one that is paying off. In an interview conducted by gamesindustry.biz, Seifert claims about 60 percent of Hitman players have bought the full season from the start or they have upgraded to the complete full season after playing through one or more missions. As new players dive in to Hitman, Seifert also explains they are inclined to experience every episode rather than jump in at the current episode and progress forward.

“With a TV show, when a new episode comes out there might be some new people who watch the previous ones as they enter, but it won’t be evenly distributed. What we’ve seen is that, people who come in, no matter how much content is out, it’s almost equally distributed.”

He suggests that the quality of the product they are producing is worth the asking price to consumers, and digital delivery gives the developer more control over pricing throughout the season.

“With disc releases, we have the tendency to discount – sometimes too early – just because it’s on physical shelves and the space is needed. You don’t really have control over you pricing. In digital that’s different.”

“Every single unit we sell is in the hand of the consumer. With discs you have this huge day one sell-in, but with digital you sell through on day one. I’ve sold more [on day one] in the past, but then you see a spike, and another spike – it’s constant sell through. That’s what amazes me the most.”

Although digital does have its benefits for the developer, they haven’t given up on physical releases. The complete first season of Hitman is set to release on disc on January 31, 2017. Those wanting a physical edition have to wait longer for their desired format, but it includes everything digital players have experienced all season long.

The community of Hitman players is expected to continue growing should the trends from Season 1 continue into Season 2 and beyond. Do you think Io-Interactive is paving the way to a brighter future for the gaming industry with their work on the new Hitman? Sound off in the comments below.

[Featured Image by Square Enix/Io-Interactive]