Now boasting four subsidiary studios, IO Interactive is opening a new location in Brighton, England, with plans for the team to work on Project 007, as well as Project Fantasy and the Hitman series in the future.
Since regaining its independence from Square Enix in 2017, IO Interactive has now expanded into four subsidiary studios alongside its Copenhagen location, with its newest location coming in Brighton, England, to support its upcoming Project 007 title. Additionally, IO Interactive stated via a press release that they would not be breaking up studios into different projects like most other companies, with each studio working on all of their ongoing projects at the same time, meaning IOI Brighton will also get its hands on Project Fantasy and the Hitman franchise as well.
The core team at IOI Brighton is already in place and is set to start things off with Project 007, a James Bond origin story, which makes a lot of sense based on the secret agent’s British roots. Located “in the center of one of the UK’s cultural and artistic hubs,” IOI Brighton will look to amp up production on their titles with what sounds like some amazing local talent to choose from.
Additionally, when speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, the CEO of IO Interactive, Hakan Abrak, elaborated on their collaborative efforts across all their studios, stating they “don’t expect any of these studios to have more than 100 to 150 people each” so that it doesn’t feel like a factory churning out work.
“We are extremely proud and excited to open our next studio in Brighton, where we see enormous potential to expand our incredible team and attract the very best talent from the exciting UK development scene. We’re eager to expand our operations to new shores and believe that IOI Brighton is an extremely appealing destination for developers of all crafts,” said Abrak.
IO Interactive has come a long way since looking at the chopping block under Square Enix, actively working on Project 007, which was announced in November of 2020, with the additional announcement in February of this year that they were branching away from their classic, stealth-action formula to work on an online fantasy RPG for Microsoft, currently codenamed Project Fantasy. While these new projects are fresh and exciting, IO Interactive also has its Hitman series in its back pocket, even if the plan is to place it on hiatus for the time being.
