IO Interactive

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IO Interactive
legal form Private
founding 1998
Seat Copenhagen , Denmark
management Hakan Abrak
Branch Software development
Website www.ioi.dk

IO Interactive is a Danish computer game developer best known for developing the successful Hitman series .

history

IO Interactive was founded after the closure of the publisher Scavenger and the associated dissolution of Team Zyrinx. The team from Boston moved back to their home country Denmark and founded IO Interactive there. Composer Jesper Kyd , who was part of Team Zyrinx, stayed in the USA, but still composes for IO Interactive to this day.

The studio's first release was Hitman: Codename 47 , an action game about a contract killer, which puts increased emphasis on a clandestine approach. The game proved to be both a financial and critical success and has since formed the basis of IO's development activities. The game was published by Eidos Interactive , which also published the successor Hitman 2: Silent Assassin . In 2003 the title Freedom Fighters was published in collaboration with Electronic Arts , before the studio was finally taken over by Eidos in March 2004. Under Eidos, IO released two more Hitman games and developed the new brands Kane & Lynch and Mini Ninja . In March 2009, through the takeover of Eidos, IO became part of the Japanese publisher Square Enix , which has since published all of the developer's games.

In June 2013 Square Enix put the focus again exclusively on the further development of the Hitman series. Other ongoing projects were discontinued and as a result half of the workforce at IO Interactive was laid off. The Austrian Hannes Seifert , previously production manager, has been appointed the new studio manager.

IO Interactive announced Hakan Abrak as the new studio manager on February 23, 2017. He has been working for the developer for more than 10 years and was previously employed as production manager. The previous studio manager Hannes Seifert switched to Riot Games .

On May 11, 2017, the parent company Square Enix announced that it was parting with the developer. This step was justified by concentrating on the core brands and studios. After the announcement, a buyer was sought for IO Interactive. On June 16, it was finally announced that the separation from Square Enix was completed through a management buy-out and that IO Interactive will continue to exist as an independent studio. The rights to the Hitman series and Freedom Fighters are still with the Danish development studio, but Square Enix retained the rights to the Kane & Lynch series and Mini Ninjas.

Published games

publication Surname platform
NGC PS2 PS3 PS4 Wii Win Mac OS Linux Xbox X360 XOne
Nov 19, 2000 Hitman: code name 47 No No No No No Yes No No No No No
Oct 1, 2002 Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes No No
26 Sep 2003 Freedom Fighters Yes Yes No No No Yes No No Yes No No
Apr 30, 2004 Hitman: Contracts No Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes No No
May 26, 2006 Hitman: Blood Money No Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes No
Nov 23, 2007 Kane & Lynch: Dead Men No No Yes No No Yes No No No Yes No
8 Sep 2009 Mini ninjas No No Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes No
17 Aug 2010 Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days No No Yes No No Yes No No No Yes No
Nov 20, 2012 Hitman: Absolution No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes No
11th Mar 2016 Hitman No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Nov 13, 2018 Hitman 2 No No No Yes No Yes No No No No Yes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Adams: Eidos Acquires IO Interactive. In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , March 4, 2004, accessed August 6, 2015 .
  2. ^ Square Enix closes on Eidos, Final Fantasy sells 85 million . CBS Interactive Inc., April 23, 2009, accessed February 2, 2016 .
  3. ↑ http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-06-17-hitman-developer-cuts-half-of-staff-refocuses-on-series
  4. ^ New Studio Head at IOI - Io-Interactive . In: Io-Interactive . February 23, 2017 ( ioi.dk [accessed November 14, 2017]).
  5. ↑ Gameswirtschaft: Hannes Seifert changes from IO Interactive to Riot Games - GamesWirtschaft.de . In: GamesWirtschaft.de . March 2, 2017 ( gameswirtschaft.de [accessed November 14, 2017]).
  6. ^ Notice of Booking of Extraordinary Loss. Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd., accessed May 11, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Michael Bonke: IO Interactive: Square-Enix is ​​looking for buyers for the Hitman makers. In: PC Games Hardware. May 11, 2017. Retrieved May 29, 2017 .
  8. ^ The Future of IOI. June 16, 2017, accessed June 19, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Marcel Kleffmann: Io-Interactive continues as an independent studio; Hitman brand remains. In: 4Players.de. June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017 .
  10. ↑ More Hitman, more control: IO Interactive on its newfound independence . In: GamesIndustry.biz . ( gamesindustry.biz [accessed November 14, 2017]).