A modern James Bond tale – reportedly about the spy's origin – with the gameplay of Hitman sounds like a recipe for success. IO Interactive has been proving for decades that they are more than capable of making a compelling and fun stealth game.

007 has been on hiatus in the video game sphere ever since, but the recent news from IO Interactive has given fans hope for the future. Numerous games were released between GoldenEye and the most recent 007 title, 2012's 007 Legends, which was almost universally panned by critics, receiving a score of 45 on Metacritic.

Video games based on the films were created as early as 1983, but never gained popularity until GoldenEye 007 was released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64. The wildly popular film franchise, based on the character, novels, and short stories written by Ian Fleming, boasts an impressive 25 film run dating back to 1962. The opportunity to work within the James Bond franchise is most likely the primary factor in IOI stepping away from Hitman for the time being. Related: Will James Bond's New Game Have Hitman's Fiber Wire? In November of 2020, it was announced that IOI had partnered with MGM and Eon Productions to create a game featuring the iconic British Secret Service agent James Bond, codenamed Project 007. The sequel, Hitman 2, followed two years later. Along with the buyout, IOI retained the rights to the Hitman franchise and would continue the World of Assassination trilogy, which started with 2016's succinctly-titled episodic Hitman.

Formerly owned by Square Enix, IOI announced in June of 2017 that it had bought out the studio and were now wholly independent.

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