Blitzrules240
Banned
Welp, no Winter Suit.
Oh well.
Oh well.
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HITMAN |OT| Blood Monthly
- Thread starter VE3TRO
- Start date
SE attempting to sell IO:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1372272
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1372272
spindoctor
Member
That's not good. We all assumed the monthly content updates were slowing down because IO was ramping up on season 2 but maybe there's more going on behind the scenes. They've never officially confirmed season 2 outside of some tweets have they?
Really wish the dude from IO who posted in this thread could tell us something but of course they won't be allowed to.
Really wish the dude from IO who posted in this thread could tell us something but of course they won't be allowed to.
FWIW, saw this in a thread on the Hitman subreddit:
"Theres a lot of chatter about this right now and there will be lots of questions. When weve got something more concrete to say, youll be amongst the first to know. For now, back to making games.
Travis"
Hope everything works out, would be such a shame to lose a chance at more Hitman from IO after coming back so successfully (always online aside) from Absolution.
"Theres a lot of chatter about this right now and there will be lots of questions. When weve got something more concrete to say, youll be amongst the first to know. For now, back to making games.
Travis"
Hope everything works out, would be such a shame to lose a chance at more Hitman from IO after coming back so successfully (always online aside) from Absolution.
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
This is the biggest bummer news for me since the cancellation of Stalker 2.
Man.
Man.
Why would that be good? This isn't their kind of game, nor do they do third party devs.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Man I wish them good luck.
tearsintherain
Member
Wish them luck, I thought sales were really good and everything was great based on season 2 being greenlit so long ago 
Lovely game, deserves better.
Lovely game, deserves better.The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Motherfuck
keltickennedy
Member
Fuck Square Enix if this turns out bad for IO. What a shit reward for making an incredible game.
Guess their priority is making lackluster Final Fantasy games that take 10+ years to develop.
Guess their priority is making lackluster Final Fantasy games that take 10+ years to develop.
FrontalMonk
Banned
Largely because they have a reputation for making great games, so the idea is that they'd continue to be able to make great games. The absolute worst case scenario would be for IOI to get picked up by an EA or an Ubisoft.
But why would CD Projekt even be interested in IO Interactive? CD Projekt has no expertise outside of RPG's and they don't really do publishing except for their own titles, so unless they pull a Paradox and suddenly become a major (indie-)publisher, I don't see CD Projekt buying any third party studio.
Ghostmaster
Member
It depends on how much they are interested in expanding and strengthening GOG more than anything. They've been steadily bolting on features to it, adding more and more functionality to make it competitive to steam, so if there is a reason to expand more studios it will be to strengthen GOG.
However it should also be mentioned that CD Red started development on Cyberpunk 2077 from scratch after the Witcher 3 and pretty much scrapped anything they had done on it before, so it is questionable whether they currently have the funds for a buyout.
If there is an out-of-left-field buyer, it could possibly be Rockstar, I remember reading somewhere quite a while ago that the Houser bros were fans of the Hitman games.
Intheflorsh
Banned
Awful news, but IO would be able to continue making Hitman games with another publisher, right?
Ghostmaster
Member
Gwent's beta is only on GOG, The Witcher was cheaper and the first game even offered for free on GOG, having the freedom to do what you want with a big name game on your platform for which you can offer incentives (like bigger discounts), can draw consumers to it without having to make it exclusive.
But I do agree, apart from the major publishers, I don't see anyone buying IO if SE isn't also giving away the Hitman IP for cheap with them.
Ubisoft and Zenimax are the most likely candidates, Rockstar the dark horse.
Square owns the IP, so the only way IO could make more Hitman is if the IP was sold along with the company. Which, is probably the only way someone would buy IO, if they could get the IP with it.
MrCompletely
Member
Maybe IO can crowdfund/kickstart Season 2 and ALL will be happy
Maybe IO can crowdfund/kickstart Season 2 and ALL will be happy
LOL at them making a Hitman season on a Kickstarter budget.
Cyborgmatt
Member
With Square owning the Hitman IP this does not bode well at all.
Wouldn't the Vivendi hostile takeover might affect Ubisoft prospects of try and buy IO?
Alpha Phoenix
Member
Which SE developer would handle Hitman if IO were to go without it? Eidos Montreal? Crystal?
Remembrance
Member
Thinking about this some more:
If the Hitman IP has basically become an albatross in terms of "every Hitman game must be a AAA game that sells X copies", then it might be for the best that IO be freed from having to chase those unrealistic sales expectations.
Imagine if the only alternative is making another Absolution so that it can sell 3 million copies for Square Enix.
If the Hitman IP has basically become an albatross in terms of "every Hitman game must be a AAA game that sells X copies", then it might be for the best that IO be freed from having to chase those unrealistic sales expectations.
Imagine if the only alternative is making another Absolution so that it can sell 3 million copies for Square Enix.
xrnzaaas
Member
Remind me which studio made Hitman GO?
Eidos Montreal.
No. Square-Enix Montreal.
It's a different team.
Eidos Montreal = Deus Ex team
Square-Enix Montreal = Team made to make bi-annual Hitman games, but became a mobile developer after Absolution failed to hit expectations.
Alpha Phoenix
Member
No, it was Square Enix Montreal. Different developer. They also made Tomb Raider Go and Deus Ex Go.
And ninja'd.
Oldest Snake
Member
3 million?! That's not the 17 million we were expecting. /Square Enix
This is horrible news for IO and the fact that SE will likely just bury the Hitman IP is even worse. I wonder what the support structure for season 1 will look like once the deed is done and how long SE will keep the servers up.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Call him Assassin 74
Ghostmaster
Member
Vivendi has been taking over Ubisoft for over a year now, AFAIK they only need 5% more of the shares to do it, however Ubisoft has had a good year with Ghost Recon and For Honor so expanding wouldn't be out of the question.
Keep in mind that Vivendi still owns just 25% of shares in Ubisoft, so Ubi can't really afford to just wait around and see if Vivendi gets another 5% of the shares without making their other shareholders unhappy.
Ubi needs to present itself as strong as possible to keep a hold on their remaining shareholders.
spindoctor
Member
I think Square would be very reluctant to let the IP go. To the point where they would rather that IO go under instead of letting them live on in another home.
3 million is just the number from Steamspy. It sold more on consoles as well. Anyway the relevant point is that it seems to have outsold the new Hitman by a considerable margin.
Oldest Snake
Member
Oh I know, it just seems to be a pattern with SE that their games never seem to meet their sales expectations. I'm pretty sure they said that Absolution was below their expectations as well.
Yeah, weren't they really disappointed with the Tomb Raider reboot sales even though that did ridiculously well?
This news is potentially pretty devastating. So much for announcing season 2 at E3...
Alpha Phoenix
Member
I'm hoping Tomb Raider isn't next at this point. Deus Ex and Hitman are already out the window.
S-E had hilariously absurd expectations for Absolution.
I believe they expected it to outsell all previous titles despite a six year IP hiatus (Hitman was bi-annual up until Blood Money)
endlessflood
Member
It actually did outsell all previous titles though, didn't it?
Remembrance
Member
Hmmm.
It is sad that we live in a world where making money is more important than making a good quality product.
Remembrance
Member
I admit it, I was hoping you knew something.
The funny thing is, this is the same Square Enix that just invested in and released Nier Automata. Neither the series nor its director has ever really made money, but it turned out to not only be a quality product but also selling well.
But IOI is not so close to Square Enix management that they can get more money out of them after making fewer sales. Instead they're far away in a distant country so it's probably easiest to let them go out of anyone.
Didn't see this posted, so
Rumor: Io Interactive will retain Hitman rights, second season is still on the way
Please be true.
Rumor: Io Interactive will retain Hitman rights, second season is still on the way
Please be true.
MosquitoSmasher
Member
That would be brilliant news and i wonder how they managed to do that. Please be true. Would be beyond sad if Hitman joins Sleeping Dogs, which is a ridiculous shame as well.
But SE IS giving Thief another shot?
You better not be getting my hopes up.