Next Hitman game will be developed at Square Enix Montreal

Hitman games have always been developed by IO Interactive, but the word is out the next title will make its way out of that studio and into the Square Enix Montreal studio.

According to Hitman: Absolution director Tore Blystad, the move marks an effort to shake things up a little, and also make more Hitman games.

“We’ve been talking about these similarities to some of the big movie franchise like Aliens, where everyone’s doing it their own way," he explains. "Every time someone gets their hands on a franchise they do something different. So rather than doing the same thing again you get another take on the character from a fresh perspective”.

“It’s like with Treyarch and Infinity Ward. You have an IP that has been developed. They will feed off each other, as well as somethings that stand out. I think with these big franchises it takes a long time to develop just one game. If you can, work a little bit in parallel at least and help each other out”.

That said, IO Interactive will be collaborating with the Montreal team some, ensuring the franchise spirit and principles are kept intact. Plus, some of the developers at the new outfit are actually from IO.