The developer behind the popular Hitman franchise has been forced to make heavy cuts to its staff.
Both Square Enix and their subsidiary studio IO Interactive have confirmed that a major restructuring of the company’s financial goals has forced IO to lay off roughly half their staff.
According to a statement that was released to the press, the Hitman developer will now be helmed by former production director Hannes Seifert and will be pushing other projects to the side as they focus on a new AAA Hitman game (in addition to the Hitman franchise, IO Interactive also developed Freedom Fighters and the Kane & Lynch series). Despite Hitman: Absolution not meeting the sales numbers the company had hoped for, they still feel it’s one of their strongest assets.
IO made it clear in their press release that they’re doing whatever they can to make sure all staff that were let go will be able to transition into new jobs at other studios.
The full press statement can be read on the following page.
