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Square-Enix trying to sell off IO Interactive (Hitman)

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Well we have Alekhine's Gun but...yeah.
AD89r3.gif

wpnRx8.gif

lmao that second gif
 

kuroshiki

Member
A lot here complained about hitman absolution, but for people who never played hitman before, hitman absolution actually was quite entertaining game, whether it stick to the original formula or not.

I still play it time to time.

Current hitman episodic release was a mistake.

I'm fully convinced that Square Enix is more toxic to the gaming industry than EA, Zenimax and Activision.

They greenlighted Nier Automata. What makes you think that.
 
I'm sure someone must have said it, but Hitman Absolution has been in multiple humble bundles, and even once or twice was in the ONE DOLLAR bundle.

So to compare its sales to the new Hitman is very unfair.
 

Slixshot

Banned
Might be worth noting that SE took a 5% hit at the opening of the market in Tokyo. Did they miss projections or is this related to the sale of IO?
 

HeelPower

Member
Hitman 2016 has only 19k ratings on PSN.

Compare to other games NieR(44k a relatively niche title),The Evil within(79k people rated it)Bloodborne(A mega hit with 230k+ ratings)

These numbers can be used to tell that the game did terrible...It just didnt sell well at all.

Really great game but it tanked.Its an established franchise that I think failed to meet NieR-level sales numbers.
 
I think the episodic thing was a real turn off for people.

And you can really only 'launch' a game once.

It was the first 60$ Triple A episodic game wasn't it?
I think it'd done better if it wasn't for it being episodic.
 
I think the episodic thing was a real turn off for people.

And you can really only 'launch' a game once.

It was the first 60$ Triple A episodic game wasn't it?
I think it'd done better if it wasn't for it being episodic.

When would they have released it though? The season ended October 31st, and the complete first season disc release didn't come out until January 31st. If it had released anytime during those time frames it would get absolutely slaughtered by everything coming out regardless.They'd have to wait it out until around this time, which I'm still doubtful it would have done much better than it has been now.
 

Matt

Member
Hitman did not do well, which is a giant shame. I loved it, and thought it was probably the best example of what episodic gaming could be.
 

Szadek

Member
This really sucks for developer and the game, but at least we will hopefuly see fewer games with such stupid buiness models.

I'm a huge fan of the series and I only bought the game way later because of all the BS surrounding it.
 
This really sucks for developer and the game, but at least we will hopefuly see fewer games with such stupid buiness models.

I'm a huge fan of the series and I only bought the game way later because of all the BS surrounding it.
Why can indie games and mid-tier games be various prices and models, but AAA can only be $60 and whatnot? If a game works best in different models, being able to experiment should be encouraged.

As a huge fan of the series, I was wary of the episodic model, but it worked so well for Hitman that it felt like the gold standard for what kind of games worked best with the episodic structure. Not narrative-focused games like Life Is Strange and The Walking Dead, but stuff like Hitman, games with distinct sandbox levels and freeform gameplay and intense focus on systemic design

You might have been surprised by just how perfectly Hitman and episodic dovetailed together
 
Hitman didn't actually seem to sell all that well despite the reception.

Honestly, the naming scheme seemed to fail them pretty badly. It was hard for me to distinguish the 2016 game from the older titles from just the cover. I had to actually look at the release date on steam. It's that bad.
 

David___

Banned
You do realize the IPs stay with SE right? Only the devs are gonna be sold.

I don't see any publisher buying a studio without their attached IP, because if all theyre gonna get is the talent theyre better off waiting for the the studio to close tbh.

When Sony sold off their online division they also sold off all their associated IPs.

Also from what I remember no one bought Lionhead since MS didn't budge on selling the Fable IP as well.
 

Sotha_Sil

Member
Why can indie games and mid-tier games be various prices and models, but AAA can only be $60 and whatnot? If a game works best in different models, being able to experiment should be encouraged.

As a huge fan of the series, I was wary of the episodic model, but it worked so well for Hitman that it felt like the gold standard for what kind of games worked best with the episodic structure. Not narrative-focused games like Life Is Strange and The Walking Dead, but stuff like Hitman, games with distinct sandbox levels and freeform gameplay and intense focus on systemic design

You might have been surprised by just how perfectly Hitman and episodic dovetailed together

Agreed. I mentioned this in another thread, but I think Thief would be another game to really benefit from this model (at least from a design standpoint, maybe not commercially).

Lord knows I would have preferred 6 Ground Zeroes-like packs instead of what we got with MGSV.
 

Matt

Member
I don't see any publisher buying a studio without their attached IP, because if all theyre gonna get is the talent theyre better off waiting for the the studio to close tbh.

When Sony sold off their online division they also sold off all their associated IPs.

Also from what I remember no one bought Lionhead since MS didn't budge on selling the Fable IP as well.
Really depends what they are buying the studio for. If you just need people to throw at projects, buying an already established studio can be a pretty economical and fast way to go about it.

For SOE, that wasn't a division being sold, that was a whole company. It was always going to include the IPs.
 

Interfectum

Member
According to an unnamed source the german Gamestar reports that the IP rights for Hitman will stay with IO Interactive and not with the publisher Square-Enix.
They also report that season 2 is half way through development.
Currently they look for new investors.

https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamestar.de%2Fspiele%2Fhitman%2Fnews%2Fhitman_ist_gerettet%2C48985%2C3313967.html&edit-text=

Please be true.
 
I think the episodic thing was a real turn off for people.

And you can really only 'launch' a game once.

It was the first 60$ Triple A episodic game wasn't it?
I think it'd done better if it wasn't for it being episodic.


I don't think gaming is different from anything else in that people object to something being different. The problems that you're ironing out by trying to do something different (like the problems they had with keeping the servers up) was held up against it, and used an example for why people should stay the way they are; buy a 60 dollars game at release, and have that be the only way things can ever be.
Obviously this is a petty way to reason and think about new things, but unfortunately it's the world we live in.

Hitman is one of the few games that lends itself perfectly to a Episodic game. Not only is each level always structured like it's own game or story, there is little in terms of a tight narrative. This makes it an obvious candidate for episode releases.


There is a shit ton of games where I would jump in for 12 dollars. I don't want to spend 60 on Mad Max, and I have no desire to go beyond 1-2 hours. But I'd jump in for a self sustained portion of the game for 12.
And I feel like that about a lot of games who waste my time by overstaying their welcome and reusing mechanics that get old quicker than they can justify the 60 dollars price tag.


Hitman is an opportunity to structure games differently and the way they are priced. I see its model as the way forward. Obviously without the bad aspects like latecomers never being able to do those exclusive contracts or servers that fail to stay online. I really like the idea of what it does. And I like the idea of collaborative development between releasing an episode, and then taking feedback from players on what the next episode needs and has to have.

If we can get to a place where the framework can be pushed out relatively quickly then we can really do something special. The problem has always been that episodic games (Half-Life episodes being a good example) took way way too long. They are such a big amount of work to do that many developers look to alternative ways to make money post-launch because it's a grueling experience. I bet Rockstar was just like "fuck this shit" with regards to episodic single player content for GTA. It's just not worth it currently. Better tools are needed to speed up workflow. Nobody wants episodic content that takes many months and years to come out. That defeats the purpose. Then you might as well do sequels.
 
According to an unnamed source the german Gamestar reports that the IP rights for Hitman will stay with IO Interactive and not with the publisher Square-Enix.
They also report that season 2 is half way through development.
Currently they look for new investors.

https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamestar.de%2Fspiele%2Fhitman%2Fnews%2Fhitman_ist_gerettet%2C48985%2C3313967.html&edit-text=

This is good news. I just hope that they find the right investors.
 
According to an unnamed source the german Gamestar reports that the IP rights for Hitman will stay with IO Interactive and not with the publisher Square-Enix.
They also report that season 2 is half way through development.
Currently they look for new investors.

https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamestar.de%2Fspiele%2Fhitman%2Fnews%2Fhitman_ist_gerettet%2C48985%2C3313967.html&edit-text=

Damn I hope that shit is true
 

Parsnip

Member
According to an unnamed source the german Gamestar reports that the IP rights for Hitman will stay with IO Interactive and not with the publisher Square-Enix.
They also report that season 2 is half way through development.
Currently they look for new investors.

https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamestar.de%2Fspiele%2Fhitman%2Fnews%2Fhitman_ist_gerettet%2C48985%2C3313967.html&edit-text=
Keeping my fingers crossed. It'd be such a shame for them to get so much right with the new Hitman, and have a great foundation set for the future of the game/series, only to have the plug pulled.
 

vpance

Member
Hope that rumor is true.

If they want to make episodic work, I think they need to add more meat to the story. Like do some kind of Telltale style hybrid or something. People are just hesitant to buy into a system they're not familiar with.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
According to an unnamed source the german Gamestar reports that the IP rights for Hitman will stay with IO Interactive and not with the publisher Square-Enix.
They also report that season 2 is half way through development.
Currently they look for new investors.

https://translate.google.de/translat...tml&edit-text=
hope this is true and not some false hope

I don't see any publisher buying a studio without their attached IP, because if all theyre gonna get is the talent theyre better off waiting for the the studio to close tbh.

When Sony sold off their online division they also sold off all their associated IPs.

Also from what I remember no one bought Lionhead since MS didn't budge on selling the Fable IP as well.

Eidos owns the IP iirc, and Eidos is now SE-EU, but I do hope they keep the rights. I always thought the online division of Sony became more of an independent thing (RIP Everquest line)

hence why I hope the unnamed source is true, but I feel like it's too good to be true
 
According to an unnamed source the german Gamestar reports that the IP rights for Hitman will stay with IO Interactive and not with the publisher Square-Enix.
They also report that season 2 is half way through development.
Currently they look for new investors.

That seemed likely. IOI and known employee's didn't seem concerned when the announcement came out.
 
Microsoft should buy it. They need internal studios.
With Microsoft's current track record for acquiring studios and their output I really hope they don't. It would almost be as bad as EA buying them.

Nordic or Devolver seems possible, but we don't know about what kind of ROI they're looking for.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Square Enix is a shitty company that handles double standards.

They turn a blind eye to messes such as FFXV, and KH3 no shows. They set unrealisticly high targets for the likes of Tomb Raider, cut Deus Ex in half and then they're complaining that those games underperform. They underperform because of their own shit. Rise shouldn't have been exclusive and Deus Ex MD should've been handled differently.

They are worse than Bethesda.
 

Gxgear

Member
Sucks that they made a great game (or so I've heard), only to be brought down by going all in on the episodic model. Consumers just have too much skepticism for season passes nowadays, having been burned so many times by it.
 

dr_rus

Member
According to an unnamed source the german Gamestar reports that the IP rights for Hitman will stay with IO Interactive and not with the publisher Square-Enix.
They also report that season 2 is half way through development.
Currently they look for new investors.

https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamestar.de%2Fspiele%2Fhitman%2Fnews%2Fhitman_ist_gerettet%2C48985%2C3313967.html&edit-text=

Hopefully this will end well although it's hard to see that any other publisher would be interested in investing without actually buying the studio.
 

Bowl0l

Member
According to an unnamed source the german Gamestar reports that the IP rights for Hitman will stay with IO Interactive and not with the publisher Square-Enix.
They also report that season 2 is half way through development.
Currently they look for new investors.

https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamestar.de%2Fspiele%2Fhitman%2Fnews%2Fhitman_ist_gerettet%2C48985%2C3313967.html&edit-text=
I hope they drop the mandatory Online to progress BS for season 2.
 

Foffy

Banned
I hope they drop the mandatory Online to progress BS for season 2.

That was a publisher decision.

I imagine if IO could keep the IP and make the intended two additional Seasons, this always-online thing would be the first thing patched out.
 
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