Hitman Developer IO Interactive Lays Off 50% of Staff - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 17 June 2013 / 3,136 Views

IO Interactive, the developer of Hitman: Absolution, has laid off nearly 50 percent of its staff. Several titles under development have been cancelled and the remaining staff will focus on developing a new Hitman title. The news was reported by GamesIndustry International.

"We are making significant changes at IO Interactive as we align our business against a changing and challenging market," said a spokesperson in a statement. "Hannes Seifert, formerly Production Director for 3 years at the studio, will take over the position of Studio Head at IO."

"The studio will focus resolutely on the future vision for the Hitman franchise and is in pre-production on a new AAA Hitman project," continued the spokesperson. "However we have taken the difficult decision to cancel other studio projects and initiatives at IO and reduce the workforce in this studio, which will impact almost half of the employees currently at IO, as we make internal adjustments to face the challenges of today's market."

"For those affected, we are extremely grateful for the hard work which they have contributed, and where it's possible and appropriate to relocate staff to open positions at other studios within the group, we will try to do so," concluded the spokesperson. "We are also reaching out to other companies for outplacement opportunities. We sincerely wish them well in their future careers. If you are part of a company that is looking for additional development talent, please contact us directly at info@ioi.dk"

4 Comments

Booyah (on 17 June 2013)

I like how publishers only answers to ballooning development costs are attacking used games and ever increasing DLC (most of which should have been in the game to begin with). If you make a million seller and lay off half your staff, you need to rethink your strategy.