IO Interactive, the now-independent studio behind Hitman, has opened a new studio in Malmö, Sweden. “We are super excited and proud to announce IOI Malmö,” IOI CEO Hakan Abrak said in this morning’s update. “We will expand IOI to join a buzzing game developer community and bring our own unique IOI culture to this amazing town.”
Malmö reportedly is home to a thriving game development scene, and Abrak thinks that it could very well become the capital of the Scandinavian game development scene. IOI will be neighbors with Massive Entertainment, of The Division fame, and less than a day’s drive and ferry south, in Poland, is CD Projekt Red.
As for IOI, their new studio in Malmö will be focused on aiding their team in Copenhagen support the Hitman franchise. Considering the recent launch of Hitman 2, we assume this means that the Malmö branch will be focusing on live events and DLC. We shouldn’t count out a new game, though. Abrak said that the new studio will “…will expand our muscles for creating brand new and exciting endeavors, new universes, new franchises.”
So what new universes and new franchises might we see out of this talented team? Only time will tell. The last time IO Interactive staff went off and made their own thing we got ECHO, which is one of the more beautiful (and unique) stealth games you might see this generation, so keep your eyes on this team.
