Hitman developer IO Interactive is preparing to go on a hiring spree to support the development of its upcoming James Bond video game and other projects.
IO director Hakan Abrak said in a new interview that the company plans to expand to around 400 people (up from 200) and open a new studio in Sweden to help develop the new James Bond project, which is only just getting started, along with other endeavors.
“It’s very, very special–a boy’s dream. Sometimes it’s still a little hard to understand that it’s us [making] James Bond,” Abrak told The Gamer. “Today we [have] 200 employees and I expect that we will [have] over 400 employees over the next few years. So, there is no doubt that the Bond agreement means an insane amount to us.”
IO’s careers website shows numerous open positions for the James Bond project, the Hitman series, and an “unannounced project,” so it seems the company is ramping up its hiring not just for 007 but for other projects as well. IO’s main office is in Copenhagen, Denmark, but the company opened a Malmo, Sweden studio in January 2019.
The report said IO was looking to open “another” studio in Sweden, but no further details were divulged in the report.
The Gamer reports that IO’s 007 video game is still “years” away from release. This game is a “wholly original Bond story” that IO is working on alongside the rights-holders MGM and Eon. The game tells an origin story, but that’s all there is to go on at this stage.
IO’s latest game is Hitman 3, which was released on January 20 to rave reviews and the best digital sales in franchise history.
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