Danish studio IO Interactive, as the creators of the series, have been doing Hitman games forever. But the next Hitman game, the one after Absolution, won't be made by them. And it won't be like other Hitman games, either.
No, the next Hitman game, in development at new studio Square Enix Montreal, sounds like it could be something a little fresher.
"We've been talking about these similarities to some of the big movie franchise like Aliens, where everyone's doing it their own way", Hitman: Absolution director Tore Blystad told OPSM. "Every time someone gets their hands on a franchise they do something different. So rather than doing the same thing again you get another take on the character from a fresh perspective".
"...it's the first time you could say Hitman has gone out of the house," he adds. "Luckily it's with someone we know. Some of the key developers came from IO and have been working on previous games so it's not like it's in completely new hands".
So it's mostly in new hands. Can't see a problem with a change in developers and tone. People seem to be excited about Metal Gear: Rising, for example, so maybe whatever Square Enix Montreal can come up with will be as wacky as that.