From collapse to classic: The making of the Hitman trilogy

When Hitman launched in 2016, its slogan was “Enter a world of assassination”. It sums up the game perfectly. But few expected it to become one of the most critically acclaimed trilogies in modern gaming. However, at the time, its developer, IO Interactive (IOI), was on the brink of collapse. IOI bet everything on the first Hitman game, using a new engine to mark a clean break from its earlier titles. Now in 2025, Hitman: World of Assassination, a compilation of all three modern Hitman games, is unrivalled in scale, depth, and creativity.

Following the mixed reception of Hitman: Absolution (2012), IOI knew it had to reboot with something new to woo back fans. Hitman 2016 was powered by IOI’s new engine, “Glacier”. It built a more open-world form of game, one where fans can experiment with their environment.

This is exactly what makes Hitman unique, its flexibility, creativity, and at times dark humour. Players are set into the character Agent 47, a nameless assassin, and are encouraged to disguise themselves in different uniforms and find multiple ways to complete the objectives and assassinate their target.

Just imagine assassinating your target… dressed as a massive yellow duck

Disguises are central to the experience. Players are encouraged to knock out characters, steal their uniforms, and use them to access restricted areas without drawing attention. Some disguises are practical, such as bodyguards, waiters, or maintenance staff, while others are far more eccentric, including movie stars, hippie drummers, mascots, plague doctors, and vampire magicians. Just imagine assassinating your target… dressed as a massive yellow duck.

Each mission is built for replayability. Players are rewarded for returning to the same maps and trying new approaches. They can test out different disguises or experiment with a wide range of assassination methods. These include poisoning drinks, dropping chandeliers, detonating golf balls, or pushing a target onto the top of a church spire. On the surface, Hitman appears to be a game about sneaking through levels unnoticed. But experienced players know it is not just about stealth. It is about killing in style.

For new players, the game offers an “opportunity” system that guides them through curated story missions and some of the most cinematic assassination methods. These opportunities serve as a gentle introduction to the game’s plethora of creative tools and mechanics. Once familiar, players are encouraged to take on tougher challenges such as “Silent Assassin”, “Suit Only”, and other specific assassination methods, which demand a more strategic and improvisational approach. These challenges push players to explore alternative routes, uncovering their own path.

The 2016 reboot began a cautious, but bold attempt by IOI to reclaim the series’ former popularity. The first game reintroduced players to the world of Agent 47, and featured iconic, unprecedentedly large maps: a Paris fashion show, coastal Sapienza with a secret underground virus research facility, Marrakesh (home to a Moroccan market), office buildings and a small military base, a Bangkok Hotel, Colorado militia training camp, Hokkaido high-tech hospital / spa resort. Each map has its own unique difficulty, specially designed characters, and engineered assassination opportunities.

This cumulative model blurred the lines between the sequels, encouraging players to engage the franchise long term

Hitman 1 was a huge success, saving the franchise and the studio from complete collapse. In 2018, building on this foundation, Hitman 2 arrived. The sequel refined mechanics and brought with it ever more ambitious levels: Hawke’s Bay beach house New Zealand, Miami F1 Track, Santa Fortuna Jungle village and mansion, Mumbai slums, a Vermont suburban neighbourhood, Isle of Sgail (home to a secretive society and castle), a New York bank, and Haven Island Tropical Resort.

The sequel also allowed players to carry over progress, unique items, unlocks and completed challenges from the previous game. This cumulative model blurred the lines between the sequels, encouraging players to engage with the franchise long term. It also hinted at more future episodes, to the delight of players. The trilogy culminated in 2021 with Hitman 3, later renamed to Hitman: A World of Assassination, where, like Hitman 2, all previous maps and progress were available in one place. All 3 games were seamlessly integrated. Hitman: A World of Assassination also offered new, visually striking locations: a Dubai skyscraper, a Dartmoor murder mystery manor house, the Berlin nightclub district, Chongqing’s futuristic, rain-slicked, neon-lit city, Argentina’s Mendoza Vineyards, and the final destination, Romania’s Carpathian Mountains on a moving train.

The final Hitman game also offered new forms of mechanics that were less exploratory but equally entertaining. One standout was the “Sniper Assassin mode”, which placed players in a fixed position with a sniper rifle and tasked them with eliminating targets from a distance. The creativity remained: players could shoot environmental factors, like dropping chandeliers, puncturing gas canisters, or destroying walkways, to cause elaborate chain reactions. It rewarded timing and precision over exploration and offered a different lens through which to experience the same design principles as the rest of the series.

Praised by fans, critics and the wider industry, it not only redefined stealth gameplay but pulled IO Interactive back from the brink of collapse

The journey of 47 was anything but smooth. Founded in 1998, IOI, following financial difficulty, was acquired by Eidos Interactive in 2004 and later absorbed by Square Enix in 2009. But after the success of Hitman in 2016, the developers made a bold move; IO Interactive bought itself out, regaining its independence and, crucially, retaining the rights to the Hitman intellectual property. It was a bet on its own future, and it paid off.

It is safe to say that the Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy was a major success. Praised by fans, critics, and the wider industry, it not only redefined stealth gameplay but pulled IO Interactive back from the brink of collapse. The studio has now been able to expand, with new studios in Malmö, Barcelona, and Brighton. It is also considered as one of the industry’s finest studios.

Looking ahead, IO Interactive has confirmed that the Hitman series is “definitely not done”, but the studio plans to step back from it for now. After redefining the stealth genre over nearly a decade, IOI is shifting focus to new ventures. Most anticipated among them is Project 007, a game based on the iconic British James Bond franchise. For a studio that has built its reputation on stylish infiltration, espionage, and silent kills, there is arguably no better fit. If their work on Hitman is any indication, Bond is in very capable hands.