Hitman 4 Officially Confirmed By IO Interactive

IO Interactive gives Hitman fans the update they have been waiting for by confirming the eventual release of a fourth video game in the series. CEO Hakan Abrak opened up about the company's work on the James Bond franchise, as well as what branching out to licensed games means in the long term.

"We've created other original IPs from the ground up — Bond is actually the only external, licensed IP that we’re working on," Abrak noted. "And I would say that's probably the only IP we will work on externally that is not ours."

"Somehow, it kind of made sense after 25 years of rehearsing for the agent fantasy and doing 007. That was a match made in heaven, you could say. But there's no doubt Hitman has been our flagship game, our long love for all the time IO Interactive has existed," Abrak continued. "So of course there will be more Hitman."

"Right now, I think we need to get to the other side of this year and next year you'll get more news about Hitman co-op, because I think co-op is a really, really good extension to the universe, and will introduce very interesting mechanics and combinations in World of Assassination. But we will, after that, be talking about the next Hitman."

Hitman 3 Is Still Getting New Content

While Hitman 4 is officially on the way, fans of the most recent entry in the series, Hitman 3, still have plenty of new content to look forward to.

The Hitman series of games began in 2000 with the release of Hitman: Codename 47. Developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive, Hitman quickly became a fan-favorite stealth action gamewhich, in spite of some early technical issues and counterintuitive controls, went on to garner some seriously high praise from critics.

In the years since, a further eight games in the mainline Hitman series have been released, as well as numerous offshoots ranging from remasters to mobile shooting galleries to tie-in puzzle games. In 2016, a new Hitman game was released that kicked off the World of Assassination trilogy. The final entry in the trilogy, Hitman 3, was released in 2021 to widespread acclaim, quickly becoming the best-selling title in the franchise.

Currently, Hitman fans have been taking a deep dive into the World of Assassination's latest season — Eminem vs. Slim Shady. Per the official promo description for the new season from IO Interactive, "We have a brand new Elusive Target mission for this end of the year, with none other than Rap Icon Eminem featuring in a double role, both as himself and his alter ego Slim Shady. This mission promises to be one of the most mind-bending and dangerous to date, with a surreal setting in a redesigned Hokkaido."

The latest season of World of Assassination kicked off on December 1, and is set to last until the end of the month. Following the Eminem vs. Slim Shady season, World of Assassination players can look forward to taking on The Splitter, which will run from December 31 to February 22, and will feature none other than the legendary action star Jean-Claude Van Damme.