Publisher Square Enix has revealed that a new Hitman game will be the first project for its brand new Montreal studio. No details about the game itself have been announced, probably because at this stage there are none; although according to Eurogamer, a “trusted source” has claimed that it will be released on next generation platforms.
The new studio is opening early next year and is expected to employ around 150 people. General manager of Square Enix London Studios, Lee Singleton, will head up the studio. In the announcement Square Enix stated that the studio will focus on “building AAA games for tomorrow’s audiences,” another possible indication that the new Hitman game will be for next-generation consoles.
Speaking to Gamasutra, Singleton said that once the studio has recruited a capable team it will begin pre-production on the game.
“We’ll only turn the production taps on when we’re ready, and we’re clear on exactly what we are building,” said Singleton.
“Our process follows best practice, and we will only go into production once we’ve build a robust and fun vertical slice that shows the necessary production metrics we need to plan out the full production.”
Singleton also clarified that the Hitman franchise will not be completely taken away from IO Interactive. “Square Enix Montreal will work in step with IO Interactive so we can both contribute great games to the Hitman franchise in the future. We will increase the frequency of game releases, but we have no plans to migrate the franchise to Montreal in its entirety,” he said.
- Hitman Absolution
The newly confirmed Hitman project is not to be confused with Hitman: Absolution, which is due for release on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime in 2012.
On top of the Hitman announcement, Square Enix revealed that its Eidos Montreal studio will expand, taking on 100 extra employees. This is the studio responsible for Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Eidos Montreal will continue to work on the Deus Ex franchise as well as Thief 4 which is currently in development.
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