Hitmandeveloper IO Interactive has announced that it is making an online fantasy RPG, with the studio recruiting different positions to help shape ‘Project Fantasy’. This brand-new IP is currently in development across IO’s studios in Barcelona, Copenhagen, and Malmö.
The Danish studio that has spent the past decade focused on expanding the Hitman franchise is now developing an online fantasy RPG for console and PC platforms. Codenamed Project Fantasy, the new game will allow IO Interactive to reflect its creativity, capabilities, and identity with a world built from the core to expand for many years to come. This new endeavor is likely the fantasy game rumored to be in development back in 2021. It was previously said to have a medieval setting and feature dungeons in a massive open world.
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“For many, this journey is also a deeply personal one that began long before we started making games for a living – and it started with the fantasy genre. From the “Fighting Fantasy” books compelling you to choose your path, alone, against wizards, lizards, and thief kings.” IO Interactive said in theblog post. The Hitman maker claimed the new IP is something that its multiple distinct studios can show their skills together on, saying: “This idea – that a diverse group of individuals with different skills and strengths can work together and become more than the sum of their parts – is what inspires us. It inspires the fantasy world we are building – and it inspires how we build it.”
Adventure books are seemingly the inspiration for the new IP, which IO Interactive has hinted at plans to support Project Fantasy for years as it did for Hitman: World of Assassination over the past decade. It may be a big swerve for a studio known for its work on stealth-shooter games, but Project Fantasy is a ‘deeply personal one’ and started ‘long before’ IO Interactive released its first title. The IP will also champion an old idea that a group of developers with diverse skill sets can work together to overcome challenges. “IOI now spans multiple distinct studios, from Copenhagen and Malmö in the north to warm Barcelona in the south. All studios take part in making all our games, including this new endeavor.” the studio added.
IO Interactive previously announced that it is working on a James Bond game that will follow the British Secret Service agent’s origin story, entitled Project 007. After parting ways with Square Enix, Project 007 will be IO Interactive’s third self-publishing title, which does not have a firm release date yet. It is said to be in development for ‘modern systems and platforms’.
