IO Interactive opens new studio in Istanbul

Just yesterday we reported that the HITMAN franchise would be taking a break as IO Interactive moves on to focus on their upcoming James Bond 007 game. It is therefore exciting to see that IOI are opening up another studio – this time in Istanbul – which will assist on not only 007, but also future Hitman content (and more).

Making the initial announcement on Twitter, IOI said “We are excited to announce the opening of a new studio in Istanbul as part of our continued growth”. IOI expanded greatly upon this on their blog, claiming that:

“The mission of IOI Istanbul is to establish a hub for AAA game development in the region and create unique game experiences for our players across the world. Our team in Istanbul will play a significant role in our ambitious productions: Project 007, Project Fantasy and HITMAN.”

The studio is clearly in a relatively early state as dozens of roles are currently being advertised for the studio including Senior Game Producer, Lead Animator, Gameplay Director and more.

Thanks to these job listings we can also see that (at least for now) much of the hiring seems to be going into IOI’s mysterious ‘Project Fantasy’ – though as explained by the team already IOI Istanbul will assist with all of the studio’s games.

IOI’s trajectory in recent years has been rather inspiring to see, with the studio starting its latest Hitman trilogy under the watchful eye of Square Enix – and ending it as an independent company with 4 studios and a whole host of new projects and potential. It will be interesting to watch IOI over the next few years.

KitGuru says: What do you think of IOI in its current state? Are they expanding too quickly or is this simply a sign of the studio's success? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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