IO Interactive, the studio that's steered the Hitman franchise since the beginning, will take one hand off the wheel and gulp a new IP Slurpee after Hitman: Absolution ships. Speaking to Gamasutra, studio honcho Niels Jorgensen says that the IO team will split focus, collaborating on a new Hitman with the Square Enix studio in Montreal while working on a new IP.

Jorgensen has very little to share about the new IP, but does say that it'll be somewhat in line with IO's DNA of dark humor and antiheroes. Hopefully, IO can find a happy medium between the stylish seriousness of Hitman and the sub-par vulgarity of Kane and Lynch.

Three of IO's employees will move from Copenhagen to Montreal to direct the team and assist in communications between the two studios, developing a game that's "faithful to the Hitman experience."

The European office of Square-Enix, which is publishing Hitman Absolution, has trademarked the name Hitman: Profession. The publisher has given no clue as to what this trademark is far.

This could be the name of the next game in the series, of course, but other possibilities include a stripped down version of the game for handhelds like the Nintendo 3DS or iOS devices, or a Hitman content hub much like Halo Waypoint, where fans can instantly go for all things Hitman.

Let us know what you think.

Hitman: Profession registered as a trademark


Source: Strategy Informer

Following a demo of Hitman: Absolution in San Francisco last week, I talked to producer Hakan Abrak about this latest entry in the killer franchise. Abrak was tight-lipped on launch timing and the recent trademark that surfaced, but he did confirm to Joystiq that there would be pre-order incentives and special editions for Absolution.

"Right now we're not ready to talk about the special editions, but definitely," he said. Pre-order items were briefly mentioned as well, though without further elaboration. (Different things spread across numerous retailers is a reasonable expectation, we suspect.)

I am sold. Buying this on day 1. It does look fukken amazing. Especially the crowd tech that made other open world game looks like dead city.

And it better be like Human Revolution. Looks shit in videos but the actual game is awesome!