It's a good job the world got to experience a new Hitman game recently. Not only because the series is going on hiatus while IO Interactive focus on a James Bond game, but because Hitman 3 was an all round successful addition to the series, with high praise from websites and fans alike. Unsurprisingly, then, it looks as though the third game in the reboot has beat its predecessor, Hitman 2, in terms of sales.
According to a recent report, Hitman 3 has surpassed the selling achievement of the previous game with figures showing the sequel has gone above and beyond what the developer and publisher could have imagined. IO Interactive CEO, Hakan Abrak, has said that this year's entry was "300% more successful" than the last one, which is something of a remarkable accomplishment. Abrak was also in the news recently when he came forward about his thoughts on developer crunch culture, the period in time when developers are often required to work longer hours as deadlines begin to loom. He explained how IO has moved away from crunch culture being mandatory, particularly as the Hitman series moves into more of an updated service rather than standalone releases.
This isn't the first time Hitman 3 has done so well, either. Earlier this year, the game outsold its predecessor in the UK, setting a new record in sales of physical copies. With these latest figures showing the staggering ways in which the game has been selling, it's hardly surprising that it's setting up to become one of the biggest hits of 2021. It seems the studio is still capable of pumping out successful games that continue to top the charts.
In fact, just recently IO Interactive opened up a new studio in Barcelona, which makes it its third branch so far. The report indicates that this new studio will work in tandem with the other two, which are located in Copenhagen and Malmo, to continue to develop ongoing projects, including the planned Project 007 and an as-yet-unannounced new IP.
Hitman 3 was released in January of this year. It is the eighth installment in what is arguably considered one of the most popular stealth/assassin games in the world. There is also a TV adaptation currently in the works, which is being written by the creator of the John Wick films, Derek Kolstad. While it's still a long way from hitting screens, it will be interesting to see how a live-action Hitman show will stack up against other adaptations that are coming, such as the Last of Us TV series.
Hitman 3 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: PC Gamer