IO Interactive, developers of the stealth video game series ‘Hitman’ is dealt a major setback after Square Enix announced their intention of getting new investors for IO Interactive and to withdraw itself from the business, resulting a loss of $43 million in the process.
Square Enix press statement in full:
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To maximize player satisfaction as well as market potential going forward, we are focusing our resources and energies on key franchises and studios. As a result, [Square Enix] has regrettably decided to withdraw from the business of IO Interactive A/S, a wholly‐owned subsidiary and a Danish corporation, as of March 31, 2017.
This decision has resulted in booking of the extraordinary loss amounting to 4,898 million yen, including disposition of the content production account related to the business and impairment loss of intangible assets, in the financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.
As a result of this [Square Enix] started discussions with potential new investors and is currently in negotiations to secure this investment. Whilst there can be no guarantees that the negotiations will be concluded successfully, they are being explored since this is in the best interests of our shareholders, the studio and the industry as a whole.[/quote]
Square Enix took a huge gamble on Hitman’s episodic release, offering multiple DLC content instead of a single full game. While it was well received by fans, their sales were affected greatly due to conflicting release schedule of larger game titles.
For the time being, we won’t be expecting to see any new development of Hitman anytime soon. Square Enix has also reportedly halt development of the Deux Ex series following underwhelming sales of Mankind Divided.
