After nine years, IO dev says Hitman World of Assassination is far from finished

As it lifts the lid on its new Bond game, 007: First Light, developer IO Interactive wants to be clear that it still isn't done with Hitman: World of Assassination. At Summer Game Fest, we spoke with senior level designer Martin Ansdal, who is primarily working on the stealth game's limited-time Elusive Target missions, about the new LeChiffre event and Hitman's unique path to where it is today. After a tumultuous nine-year stretch that saw IO part ways with publisher Square Enix, briefly work with WB Games for Hitman 2, and then ultimately self-publish for the third entry, Ansdal tells us that there's still much more to come.

Mads Mikkelsen reprises his role as the notorious Casino Royale antagonist in the new Hitman: World of Assassination Elusive Target, which is playable right now. With the trilogy of stealth games now essentially wrapped into a singular package, and joined by the masterful, roguelike inspired Freelancer mode, it has transitioned from its early episodic format into a platform capable of keeping thousands of players coming back every day, years after its last major release.

There are more celebrity cameos in the works, and while Ansdal is understandably tight-lipped about who is involved, he does say, "I don't have any plans to downscale my ambitions. I think maybe we've had less ambitious ones in the past, but when you have talent of this caliber, it's Hitman; it requires you to be ambitious, it's built into the fabric of it." Moving forward, IO announced that it's working on a co-op mode with Stone and Knight, something Ansdal says has been "a focus of our tech development for a long time."

Ansdal says he believes the unique blend of mechanics Hitman brings to the table gives it a shelf life that could last for years to come. "There's so many experiences that we haven't done. I have such a backlog of stuff that I want [to do] , and we're nine years in since World of Assassination. With other games, I'd imagine you're about to run out of ideas; for me it's like 'One more, I get to do one more, I get to do the casino, I'm super excited!' As long as there's an audience there for it, I would rather do that than work on almost any other game."

With Hitman seemingly moving away from traditional sequels in favor of the World of Assasination structure, Ansdal says he's confident about where the studio is today. "I think Hakan [Abrak, IO Interactive CEO] should feel extremely galvanized. They had that idea for the World of Assassination way back and it's an approach that initially wasn't received that well." It certainly took some time for the initial episodic model of 2016's Hitman to catch on, but it ultimately proved one of the most successful examples of the format.

Ansdal also addresses IO's path through multiple publishers and various economic problems during the past few years. "It is extremely galvanizing to be at this point you know, at a tough time for the games industry; to be strong as a company, opening multiple studios, and it's because someone made a really good decision way back, more than ten years ago, and that's paying off."

"I think if at the time you had been locked into that way of thinking about [your] product, you might be dead at this point. [Working on Hitman] is fun, but it's not a given that in this industry you get to keep making fun things. That requires people who are smart, who can make that a viable business strategy. Being able to springboard into the next game and the next game, that's what keeps me and my friends employed."

Can't wait for Stone and Knight to arrive? Here are the best co-op games you can play right now, along with the best single-player games if you work better alone.

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Additional reporting by Jamie Hore at Summer Game Fest.