IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak has revealed the secrets behind how the studio has managed to stay competitive in the AAA market. In an interview with The Game Business, Abrak revealed that in Hitman games since Absolution, the studio started cutting down on the development budget of the titles by simply making fewer new toilets for every game.
鈥淚 was the executive producer on [2012鈥檚] Hitman Absolution, and I swore never to do more new toilets,鈥 said Abrak. 鈥淲e were just doing new everything. It was just a throwaway. When we were doing the initial foundation on Hitman 2016, we built it in a way where we would do smart reuse.鈥
Abrak also revealed that the development budgets for the Hitman games had gone down since the trilogy started. While he didn鈥檛 reveal precise figures, he did give us an example; if 2016鈥檚 Hitman was developed for $100 million, Hitman 3 鈥 which was the highest-rated game of the trilogy 鈥 would comparatively have a budget of $20 million.
鈥淲ithout being too precise, Hitman 2016鈥 let鈥檚 say it was a $100 million game. Hitman 2 was maybe $60 million. Hitman 3 was $20 million,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd Hitman 3 was the highest Metacritic. It was 85, 84, and 87 Metacritic. And it had very unique new locations. Obviously, there鈥檚 a bigger investment into Bond. It鈥檚 a more expensive and ambitious product. But the way we build it, the longevity鈥 if we were to look at sequel at one point, who knows? At IO, we have a really, really good way of trying to be efficient. That鈥檚 extremely important to us.鈥
Ultimately, Abrak spoke about how excessive budgets largely came about because of wasted resources. Describing the development of Absolution as wasteful, Abrak went on to talk about how IO Interactive has since become much more efficient in developing its titles.
鈥淲ith Absolution, we wasted so much,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t was a wasteful production. As studio production director back then, I completely changed our thinking. The World of Assassination is a vision that started 13, 14 ago years ago. Building this foundation, the brick system as we call it, where we can make an experience, like [new Hitman mission featuring Mads Mikkelsen] very quickly and efficiently. This was a really part of us creating sustainable AAA production. I鈥檓 not going to sit here and say we are doing everything right. We鈥檒l keep on trying to improve and be less wasteful, but still super ambitious.鈥
鈥淟ike most industries, our industry is also going through maturity. That鈥檚 what we are living through. We could have grown a lot more, we could have taken on more projects, but we鈥檝e been very mindful about growing at the pace where our culture and our expertise could follow.鈥
While the most recent bit of content for Hitman World of Assassination 鈥 Casino Royale鈥檚 Le Chiffre as an Elusive Target 鈥 IO Interaction is currently working on its next major game: 007: First Light. While the game is slated for release on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2026, Abrak has confirmed that the studio isn鈥檛 quite done with Hitman either.