IO Interactive AS is a Danish video game developer based in Copenhagen. It is best known for creating and developing the Hitman and Kane and Lynch franchises. As of October 2016, the company employs 170 people, and operates a Malmö-based studio, IOI Malm Ö, since January 2019. The most recent game by IO Interactive is Hitman 2, which was released in November 2018.
About IO Interactive in brief
IO Interactive AS is a Danish video game developer based in Copenhagen. It is best known for creating and developing the Hitman and Kane and Lynch franchises. The company was founded in September 1998 as a joint venture between the seven-man development team of Reto-Moto and film studio Nordisk Film. IO Interactive was acquired by publisher Eidos Interactive for GB£23 million in March 2004, which saw itself acquired by Square Enix and renamed as Square Enix Europe in 2009. In May 2017, Square Enix ceased funding for IO Interactive and started seeking a buyer for the studio. In June 2017, IO Interactive performed a management buyout, becoming independent and regaining the rights to their Hitman and Freedom Fighters franchises. As of October 2016, the company employs 170 people, and operates a Malmö-based studio, IOI Malm Ö, since January 2019. The most recent game by IO Interactive is Hitman 2, which was released in November 2018. The game is the sequel to Hitman: Codename 47, and was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox One in September 2002. The studio also has a studio in Hungary, named IO Interactive Hungary, which it opened in 2003. The Hungarian studio has 50 staff, but only finished the game after a six-month training programme. In October 2001, IO announced Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, a sequel to codename 47.
It was released in September 2002, this time on Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. The success of Silent Assassin came as a surprise to the team, but IO Interactive decided to open a Hungarian studio after the training programme had been finished. The following year, the studio opened a Hungarian office in Budapest, with 50 people, with the intention of expanding the studio to include a Hungarian branch. In March 2003, the Hungarian office opened, and the first game was released, Hitman: Silent Assassin – a sequel to Codename 47 – on the Xbox One, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. In November 2003, IO decided to expand the studio, and opened a Hungary office in Hungary as well. The first game, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was released in September 2003, on both Microsoft Windows and Xbox Os. In April 2004, IO acquired Eidos Interactive for GB£23 million, and in March 2004, Eidos published Hitman: Codename 47 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox Os, as well as the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Vita. In September 2004, the game was released on Microsoft XBox and Xbox Live. In October 2005, the company announced Hitman 3: Silent Assassination on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
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This page is based on the article IO Interactive published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 20, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
