It’s been five years since the release of Hitman 3, but IO hasn’t left Agent 47 behind. While the main team has been working on both the soon-to-be-released 007 First Light and the upcoming Project Fantasy, the studio has been creating additional elusive missions for the ongoing World of Assassination.
After promising that a Hitman 4 is definitely going to happen, IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak confirmed that the team is itching to work on the series again. While there’s no current announcement for the next Hitman game, the studio is excited to return to Agent 47 with a new entry.
Abrak explains that the reason fans are waiting so long for a new Hitman is due to the huge genre shifts IO has been making. While First Light has some Hitman-like levels, Project Fantasy is expected to be wildly different, and making entirely new systems and engine upgrades is incredibly time consuming.
“It’s the curse of being ambitious sometimes,” Abrak told The Game Business. “Bond is a very different game to Hitman, and building that core loop, and that core platform foundation, with whole new systems… that is very, very hard. And we just chose to do two of those at the same time.”
As 007 First Light approaches release, IO will likely be starting pre-production on its a new title sometime soon. While the CEO didn’t confirm that the studio will be working on a new Hitman title, they did explain that the team is excited to return to their flagship studio.
“Now we are getting towards the end, Bond is being launched in mere weeks from now, and we are very far with the Fantasy project,” Abrak said. “Being on this side, we are looking forward to get into the weeds with Hitman again.”
The CEO teased that the next mainline Hitman game will be a huge upgrade over the current World of Assassination. While no specific details were confirmed, the CEO mentioned that the next game will see some major innovations for the series. “Rest assured we cannot wait to get into the engine room and upgrade, invent and innovate with Hitman,” Abrak told the outlet.
With this in mind, it seems likely that Hitman 4 will not be added to the existing World of Assassination. With major innovations, it seems more likely that the series’ next entry will instead be the start of a new platform for the series’ future.
007 First Light is currently scheduled to launch on May 27, 2026, although the game’s Nintendo Switch 2 port isn’t expected to release until the end of Summer. In the same interview, Abrak explained that the port has been delayed as it needs “more time”.
“We just want to make sure it’s good as it can be,” the CEO explained. “I don’t want to hear it wasn’t a good version. To be completely honest, we need a bit more time to get it where we want it to be. We said summer. It’s probably going be late summer.”
