The first fruits of independence: Hitman 3 sold 300% better than Hitman 2
IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak, speaking with GamesIndustry at the GI Live: Online online event, reiterated that Hitman 3, released in January of this year, recouped development costs in its first week of sales. He also announced new information – in particular, that Hitman 3 sold 300% better than Hitman 2.
He attributed this to several factors, including the IO Interactive self-published the game (Square Enix and Warner Bros. published Hitman and Hitman 2, respectively). Also influenced by the success was the decision to release the action game in January.
Hitman 2 came out on November 18th, and many big blockbuster games are coming out in November; and it seems like the release was right after Red Dead Redemption 2, which obviously impacted our sales. And I have been a big fan of the idea of releasing Hitman in January for a very long time – shared Abrak. – I always thought this was a great time for the game to get the attention it deserves. Therefore, we decided on January, not knowing how everything would go. We’ve never done this before, but it turned out that [the solution was great]. ”
Abrak also suggested several other factors that influenced Hitman 3’s sales figures, including high ratings in reviews. It was one of the first major games since the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S launch.
“So it was perfect for a great release, which we are very grateful for, and the sales are amazing,” he added. ” In fact, Hitman never [before] recouped its full development costs in its first week. “
Finally, Abrak reiterated that IO Interactive received several “desirable” acquisition offers after splitting from Square Enix, but the studio ultimately decided to go it alone. She is currently working on a James Bond game, tentatively known as Project 007.
Hitman 3 was released on January 20, 2021, on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X & S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch (cloud version).
