IO Interactive Retain ‘Hitman’ Rights, Season 2 Still In Development

Ever since news broke out that Square Enix was looking to sell IO Interactive and the Hitman franchise, fans have been worried that the series would be killed. It seems this won’t necessarily be the case since reports suggest that the IP rights for the video games will stay with IO. This means that Season 2 for Hitman is still in the works, but there’s still the matter of the publisher to deal with.

The news comes courtesy of German video game publication Gamestar, which reported that extremely reliable sources have told them of the franchise’s rights remaining with IO, VG247 reports. The publication provided an approximate translation to what Gamestar wrote about the development as well, which is technically still a rumor, at this point.

“We [cannot] reveal any further details on the origin of this information, but we would like to state that the information is absolutely reliable and secure,” Gamestar wrote. “And we expect that IO will officially comment on it next week.”

Now, it’s worth noting that Gamestar actually has a respectable reputation within the video gaming community both in Germany and throughout Europe, Ubergizmo reports. The publication has been right with regards to rumors that it talked about in the past. However, as with everything else, it’s worth taking this revelation with a grain of salt and wait for the companies to release official word on the fate of Hitman.

At this point, neither Square Enix nor IO has released any statement confirming or denying the rumors. Fans might be feeling the heat at this point as well, since the matter of which publisher will buy the franchise and the developer will have a huge impact on how Season 2 and beyond will play out. IO initially wanted to create three seasons but at this point, even just two would be a minor miracle.