It’s been a busy few years for IO Interactive as the company has been expanding Hitman’s World of Assassination and developing 007: First Light. But the company’s plans for the future may have been somewhat revealed by IO’s CEO.
Hitman 3 evolved into the ‘World of Assassination’ in 2023. The game became larger than life as it began to add celebrity cameos as part of new missions, and this was all the while IO Interactive was working on 007: First Light. But fear not, if you think major Hitman content is being put to one side, you can eliminate those fears.
“Of Course, There’s Going To Be A Next Hitman”
IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak recently spoke to Variety about the Hitman franchise in general, the company’s work on 007: First Light, and anything else in the pipeline.
First Light is still scheduled for launch in March 2026, and Abrak said: “That’s probably the only IP we will work on externally that is not ours.”
The conversation moved on to Hitman, the franchise’s history, and what’s next:
“So of course there will be more ‘Hitman,’” but right now, I think we need to get to the other side of this year and next year you’ll get more news about ‘Hitman’ co-op, because I think co-op is a really, really good extension to the universe, and will introduce very interesting mechanics and combinations in ‘World of Assassination.’ But we will, after that, be talking about the next ‘Hitman’ — because, of course, there’s going to be a next ‘Hitman.”
While Abrak doesn’t specifically say IO Interactive is working on Hitman 4, this is about as close to an announcement with its being officially stated as you’re going to get.
It’s unclear if the World of Assassination will bleed over into Hitman 4, or if it will be a new game independent of the recent trilogy. Hitman fans can look forward to Eminem joining the World of Assassination in 2025.
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