Known for their work on the Hitman franchise, IO Interactive announced today that they had begun developing a brand-new IP, and it’s quite far off from what we’re used to seeing from the studio. The new IP is tentatively called “Project Fantasy,” which is most likely a current placeholder, and according to IO Interactive, the project will be an online fantasy RPG. 

It has now been a decade since we first imagined creating a new “World of Assassination” for our HITMAN games. Seven years ago, we launched that world in its infancy and nurtured it to grow to comprise three full games, exciting new game modes, many additional locations, and extra targets. And more importantly, it has allowed us to build a bond with our community that has supported us ever since. We have gone from a strong vision, through a lot of unforeseen events, to the ever-expanding world with freedom of approach in its core that we have today.

Now we are sharing with all of you, that we are embarking on a new adventure! One that expands our creativity, our capabilities, and in some sense our identity. We are building a new world, a new IP – an online fantasy RPG. A world and a game built from the core to entertain players and expand for many years to come. It feels familiar, yet at the same time IOI is going on a journey unlike any we have been on before.

The team goes on to explain how they first started their journey into the world of game development, citing that it all began with the fantasy genre. 

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. To the togetherness, camaraderie, agony, and delight found around the tabletop. For some it meant taking the role of a game master: Part storyteller, part AI opponent, part guide, part villain. For everyone around that table it meant creativity, imagination, building a world together, and a shared goal in creating a great game experience.

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. 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. People from all over the world with diverse personalities and skillsets are coming together to forge a new beginning.

This is just the start of our journey into this new world we are making. We hope you sense the warmth, the danger, the togetherness, and the heart we put into it… And if you do, we would be honored if you join us.

Little else is known about the project outside the provided concept art (shown above), though IO Interactive have begun hiring for a number of positions to work on the title. Amongst these position is the combat designer, which lists one of the responsibilities as “develop and oversee the player’s combat mechanics, weapons and abilities.” That could mean and be applied to almost any game out there, so it’s a small piece of information, if we’re honest. 

I cannot wait to see what IO Interactive cooks up, as I regard the recent Hitman games as some of the best sandbox games on the market today. It’ll be interesting to see how they apply that kind of freedom those games have to offer to an online RPG. Though we suspect with the team hard at work on the 007 project, it may be a while before we hear more on this IO Interactive’s fantasy RPG.