As promised last week, Hitman Game of the Year Edition is now live on Steam, with a new four-mission campaign, additional weapons, suits, and challenges, and the reactivation of Elusive Targets. The GOTY will set you back $60, or $20 for anyone who already owns the Complete First Season. More relevant to the future of the series, however, (and therefore our interests) is a launch-day message posted by Io Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak confirming that a new Hitman is on the way.
"Five months ago, I posted an open letter to let you know that Io-Interactive had become an independent studio once again," Abrak wrote. "We’ve kept intentionally quiet since then, because we needed to focus inwards at what we want IOI to stand for, in terms of our employees, our culture and our ambitions and dreams for the future. It’s been hard and challenging work, but also incredibly exciting as we lay the foundations for a new start for this special studio."
After expressing his gratitude to fans for their "continued support and love," Abrak concluded, "One last thing about our next Hitman game; I want to let you know that we’re making great progress and we have exciting new features and some franchise firsts, which we can’t wait to tell you all about. You’ll have to wait a little longer as we don’t plan to start talking about that until some point in 2018."
The lack of detail is disappointing, yes, but given the year that Io's had—from "a brilliant return to form" to being cut loose by Square Enix to finding its footing as an independent outfit—the simple confirmation of "our next Hitman game" is good news to get.