IO Interactive

IO Interactive A/S (IOI) is a Danish video game developer and publisher based in Copenhagen, best known for creating and developing the Hitman and Kane and Lynch franchises. IO Interactive's most recent game is Hitman 3, which was released in January 2021. Their next game will be 007 First Light, to be released in 2026.

The company was founded in September 1998 as a joint venture between the seven-man development team of Reto-Moto and film studio Nordisk Film. IO Interactive was acquired by publisher Eidos Interactive for GB£23 million in March 2004, which saw itself acquired by Square Enix and renamed as Square Enix Europe in 2009. In May 2017, Square Enix ceased funding for IO Interactive and started seeking a buyer for the studio. IO Interactive performed a management buyout in June 2017, becoming independent and regaining the rights to its Hitman and Freedom Fighters franchises. IO Interactive employs over 500 people as of June 2025 and operates four subsidiary studios: IOI Malmö in Malmö, Sweden; IOI Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain, IOI Istanbul in Istanbul, Turkey, and IOI Brighton in Brighton, England.

History

Hitman: Codename 47 (1998–2000)

revenue	281.5 million kr.‡R1R‡ (40.8 million USD)

revenue year	2023

operating income	47.1 million kr.‡R2R‡ (6.8 million USD)

income year	2023

net income	55.6 million kr.‡R3R‡ (8.1 million USD)

net income year	2023

assets	1.097 billion kr.‡R4R‡ (159.1 million USD)

assets year	2023

equity	913.9 million kr.‡R5R‡ (132.5 million USD)

equity year	2023

num employees	>500‡R6R‡

num employees year	2025

parent	Square Enix Europe (2004–2017)

divisions	IOI Partners

subsid	IOI Barcelona IOI Brighton IOI Istanbul IOI Malmö

website	ioi.dk

Early on, IO Interactive conceptualised a fantasy massively multiplayer online game (MMO) entitled Rex Dominus, however, Nordisk Film staff asked the development team to cease production on Rex Dominus and "test [themselves]" by developing a "simple shooter" instead.[12] As such, the team opted for a run-and-gun action game, as it took less time to develop compared to an MMO, drawing inspiration from John Woo films, such as Hard Boiled and The Killer.[12] They turned to develop for personal computers (PCs), because they were unable to acquire development kits for consoles, and had also found interest in the steady increase of PCs' 3D graphics capabilities.[12]

A part of the development on the game, which would later become Hitman: Codename 47, was the creation of the Glacier, the studio's proprietary game engine that fit their needs; co-founder Andersen stated: "Since killing was the main theme of the game, we wanted to do something special. [...] Standard 'death animations' just looked too static so some of the coders tried to see if they could use real-time inverse kinematics for the falling bodies. The first versions ran terribly slowly until one of the programmers figured out a way to fake the whole calculation."[12] This led to the first use of advanced ragdoll physics in a video game.[12] This physics system caught the eyes of British publisher Eidos Interactive, and especially staff member Jonas Eneroth, who thought that the system could greatly benefit Codename 47 gameplay.[12] Following six months of negotiations, a publishing deal was signed between IO Interactive and Eidos Interactive.[13] Eneroth became executive producer on the project.[12]

As executive producer, Eneroth encouraged the development team to stray away from the run-and-gun gameplay, and instead focus on a "methodical experience", including dragging dead bodies around the scene to create tension.[12] He had previously worked on Deus Ex and Thief: The Dark Project, which had heavily exposed him to the stealth game mechanics he wished to see in Codename 47.[12] The game was released on 19 November 2000,[14] with reception mixed due to the difficulty of the game.[12]

Other games (2006–2010)

IO Interactive announced its next game, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, in August 2006.[34] Unlike its Hitman games, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men played as a linear, cooperative gameplay-focused third-person shooter, as opposed to Hitman sandbox solo stealth gameplay.[35] Released in November 2007,[36] the game gained mixed reviews, wherein some reviewers felt like the game had a disconnect with modern gameplay styles.[37] On 11 April 2008, four of IO Interactive's co-founders, Vorsholt Jørgensen, Pollas, Andersen and Guldbrandsen, announced that they had, together with former Eidos Interactive executive producer Neil Donnell, reformed Reto-Moto as an active developer.[38] Guldbrandsen and Donnell became chief technology officer and chief executive officer, respectively.[39] Six further IO Interactive employees followed to Reto-Moto in December that year.[40] Co-founder and at the time managing director Flösser left the company in April 2008, and was succeeded by Niels Jørgensen, who had joined the company in 2002.[41]

In January 2009, Eidos Interactive announced IO Interactive-developed Mini Ninjas, a family-friendly game, as opposed to all of the studio's previous titles.[42] Jørgensen explained that, using Mini Ninjas, the studio wanted to reach a broader demographic in the gaming market.[11] Shortly after the announcement of Mini Ninjas, in April 2009, Eidos Interactive was acquired by Japanese video game conglomerate Square Enix for GB£84.3 million.[43] Eidos Interactive was reorganised over the course of 2009 and became known as Square Enix Europe in November that year.[44] Square Enix Europe continued to oversee its previously owned development studios, including IO Interactive.[45] Speaking for IO Interactive, Karsten Lund stated that the studio experienced "no loss of freedom" following the buyout.[46]

A sequel to Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, titled Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, was announced in November 2009,[47] and released in August 2010.[48] Critics found that most elements in the game had deliberately been made "ugly" to better fit into the well-told story of the game.[49] In a November 2009 interview with gaming website Gamasutra, Jørgensen revealed that, due to the high costs associated with living in Scandinavia, much of the company's graphic department had been outsourced to Shanghai.[11] The Chinese office had been set up by two Danish representatives from IO Interactive, with one Dane permanently residing in Shanghai to look over the outsourcing progress.[11] In March 2010, 35 of previously 200 employees were let go from the company.[50][51]

Management buyout, further Hitman games, 007 and Project Fantasy (2017–present)

Seifert announced in February 2017 that he had left IO Interactive to return to his home country of Austria to pursue an unannounced project.[73] Hakan B. Abrak, also formerly production director for the studio, took over his duties, becoming chief executive officer.[74][75]

In May 2017, Square Enix announced that it had withdrawn funding from IO Interactive and would begin negotiating with potential investors that would want to purchase the studio.[76] Several jobs were cut at IO Interactive shortly following that announcement.[77][78] On 16 June 2017, IO Interactive announced that it had performed a management buyout, as a result of which it became independent.[79][80] Square Enix retained a minor financial stake in IO Interactive.[81] The buyout also included the intellectual property (IP) for Hitman and Freedom Fighters, but lacked that of Kane & Lynch and Mini Ninjas.[82][83][84] Yosuke Matsuda, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix at the time, stated that the company's decision to divest itself of IO Interactive, alongside Hitman, was made because it felt like the series needed to go on, but would be in better hands with another partner or with IO Interactive itself.[85][86] IO Interactive's associate director, Eskil Mohl, said that, when Square Enix decided to withdraw from the studio, it was already working on Hitman 2, and the job cuts were a necessary step to make sure that the studio would remain viable without Square Enix's backing; Mohl felt that this helped harden the studio to make Hitman 2 a stronger game.[87]

IO Interactive confirmed shortly after the split that all profits from 2016's Hitman would from that point go directly to the studio.[88] In August that year, the studio confirmed that another Hitman game was in development.[89] In April 2018, IO Interactive partnered with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) to distribute a Definitive Edition of 2016's Hitman, which was released in the following month.[90][91] In June 2018, IO Interactive announced Hitman 2.[92] Unlike 2016's Hitman, Hitman 2 does not feature an episodic release format.[93] Published by WBIE, Hitman 2 was released in November that year.[94] On 16 January 2019, IO Interactive opened a subsidiary studio, IOI

In June 2020, IO Interactive announced Hitman 3, the conclusion to its World of Assassination trilogy, which was released on 20 January 2021 for Windows computers and current and next-gen consoles, with IO publishing the game themselves.[97]

In November 2020, the company announced Project 007, an original James Bond video game, working closely with licensors MGM and Eon Productions.[98][99] IO studio director Hakan Abrak said it had spent about two years in preparing a pitch to the Bond license holders, knowing that the current rights holders, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were dissatisfied with the amount of violence in past Bond video games. IO's Bond will be a wholly original character and not use any of the film actors' likenesses, and Abrak anticipates that this game would be the start of a trilogy of Bond games.[100] Abrak expected that the game would require it to double its current staff of 200 employees to 400 by the time the first Bond game is released.[101] The game was officially unveiled as 007 First Light in June 2025.[102]

IOI Barcelona, based in Barcelona, Spain, was announced in April 2021. The studio is to assist IOI on its active projects, including further Hitman entries and 007 First Light.[103]

In February 2023, IO Interactive announced Project Fantasy, this new IP is set to be an online fantasy RPG, a departure from IO's Hitman games.[104]

IOI Brighton, in Brighton, England, was announced by the company in July 2023. The studio initially will support IO's 007 First Light, Project Fantasy and Hitman.[105]

Expansion into third party publishing

In 2024, IO Interactive established IOI Partners, a publishing label. The first project to be announced was MindsEye, from Leslie Benzies's Build A Rocket Boy. IOI was responsible for the game's marketing and distribution and MindsEye serves as a demonstration of the Everywhere platform. Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive, mentioned that the game was well along in its development.[106]

MindsEye was released in June 2025 to an overwhelmingly negative reception. In March 2026, IOI Partners ended its relationship with Build a Rocket Boy, handing the publishing for MindsEye back to the developer and cancelling a planned crossover with Hitman.[107]

products
former name	IO Interactive ApS (1998–2000)
type	Private
industry	Video games
founded	September 16, 1998
founders	Jesper Vorsholt Jørgensen Rasmus Guldberg-Kjær Martin Munk Pollas Karsten Lemann Hvidberg Jacob Andersen Janos Flösser David Guldbrandsen
hq location city	Copenhagen
hq location country	Denmark
key people	Hakan B. Abrak (CEO)

History

Background and foundation (1997–1998)

Hitman: Codename 47 (1998–2000)

Further ventures (2000–2004)

Acquisition by Eidos Interactive, further Hitman releases (2004–2006)

Other games (2006–2010)

Return to Hitman (2011–2016)

Management buyout, further Hitman games, 007 and Project Fantasy (2017–present)

Expansion into third party publishing

Expansion into third party publishing

Games developed

Games published

Cancelled games

Glacier

External links

References