190°

"It's not Hitman without IO": Why Square Enix set the franchise free

President and CEO Yosuke Matsuda tells GamesIndustry.biz the reasons behind the surprise split with IO Interactive.

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Community2383d ago
strayanalog2384d ago

Nice. It really wouldn't be Hitman without IO, besides being an independent developer suits them fine, I believe.‎

2382d ago Replies(1)
PlayableGamez-2383d ago

Wonder where the franchise is going to go now that it's independent.

warriorcase2381d ago

The new patient zero campaign felt like it had a touch more of a darker tone. I hope they Keep doing what they are doing, hitman was great fun

2pacalypsenow2382d ago (Edited 2382d ago )

I miss IO + Eidos, before SE bought them.

FriedGoat2382d ago

Yeah, most of the team who created the best hitman (blood money) and previous titles left ages ago.

PlayStationswitch2382d ago

IO needs to make Freedom Fighters 2!
Or atleast an HD remake of the original.
Multiplayer was so underrated. It would be so amazing on the switch

2pacalypsenow2382d ago

You can play the Original in 720p on the Xbox, looks pretty good.

morganfell2382d ago

"It's not Hitman without IO": Why Square Enix set the franchise free

Translation: We weren't making a pile of money off these guys and it was cheaper to let them go than to try and sell the franchise.

_-EDMIX-_2382d ago (Edited 2382d ago )

Square Enix never actually needed to sell back the intellectual property.

I mean basically they could have sold Hitman to any number of Publishers to the highest bidder. The reality is it did not work out for both parties so they decided to part ways and in my personal opinion it was quite fair and honest for Square Enix to sell back that property to IO interactive because that's something that is actually pretty rare in this industry for a publisher to do.

Like really rare.

I mean it would have actually been cheaper to sell the intellectual property to the highest bidder I seriously don't think you really understand what square has allowed this team to do...

Most situations where a team gets let go by a major publisher doesn't really end in that major publisher selling back an intellectual property.

Trust me, this is rare.

When Bizarre Creations left Microsoft game studios in Microsoft game studios still owns Project Gotham Racing..

When bungie left Microsoft Microsoft still owns Halo....

When lionhead was closed down Microsoft still own Fable.

When Visceral Studios will shut down Electronic Arts still owns the Dead Space IP

When Capcom close down Clover Studios they did not give them viewtiful Joe and Okami

I think you really really really really need to read up on this to fully understand what happened because you may not like Square Enix but what they've just done is not the norm of gaming and most companies would sell the intellectual property or even keep it for future investment.

It was a nice thing they did because most small developers after being let go are not going to have such a result.

morganfell2382d ago

"I mean basically they could have sold Hitman to any number of Publishers to the highest bidder. "

You do not know that. Square Enix didn't see enough promise and stating other companies would automatically go against that finding is supposition at best. You also do not know if SE has an agreement in place with IO that basically garners them some type of payout over time that SE found more profitable. You nor I have any idea how things worked out between them unless you have some corporate inside information. I stated something as more of a joke above and thought that was obvious. Even so it is likely accurate. Thjis was about money, not a lover's quarrel.

You do not know if it would have been cheaper or wiser financially to sell Hitman to another publisher even if others were willing to pay and Square may not have wholly owned the IP. Not every situation is the same. There also may have been accumulated debts that selling the property would not pay for yet disbursements from IO to Square over time would cover. The idea that they allowed them to keep the IP signals payments to SE over time is the most likely scenario. Again, because of something I said in jest which is that they were not making piles of cash off the back of Hitman.

_-EDMIX-_2382d ago (Edited 2382d ago )

"You do not know that"

Except I do, Square Enix was the one that owned the Hitman intellectual property.

They had options and it's clear they chose to sell it back to the developer, something they never needed to do.

Any number of Publishers like Activision Ubisoft Electronic Arts Microsoft what have you would have gladly paid top dollar for the Hitman intellectual property.

I don't even understand what you're trying to even debate 😂😂😂

IO interactive was let go, trust me they're not going to have more money than Electronic Arts Ubisoft Microsoft or any of the other top Publishers that's just completely asinine.

I have no clue what you're talking about but there was no damn agreement with the intellectual property it was 100% fully owned by Square Enix do you not know that this company was purchased through an acquisition?

This wasn't some merger , this wasn't some partnership this was Square Enix 100% owning this developer as well as owning the intellectual property.

No matter how much you hate this damn publisher please stop trying to purposely paint them in this negative light when you 100% understand that they easily could have sent this out to the highest bidder and I'm positive they would have made Millions more off of their property as opposed to from a small developer that was just let go.

So what you're telling me is IO interactive has more damn money then all the top third party Publishers and gaming? 😂😂😂 28514; Oooook

When Midway was going out of business it was a damn field day every damn publisher came out of the woodwork from Ubisoft to Sega to take two so they could buy teams and intellectual properties.

Soooooo yes, Square Enix very much was going to get millions upon Millions more from another top publisher than they ever were going to get from a small developer, this move was done out of respect.

You don't see Microsoft looking to sell Fable to lionhead a developer that just lost their jobs as if they could afford the intellectual property of fable 😂😂😂 28514;

http://www.gamesbrief.com/2...

So this was an acquisition , it was not a merger, it was not a partnership.

And

http://www.usgamer.net/arti...

morganfell2382d ago

"Except I do, Square Enix was the one that owned the Hitman intellectual property. "

Now you are just making things up and this conversation is utterly useless. You were not sitting in the boardroom. You have absolutely no idea what SE's thoughts were on Hitman. Ownership of a property doesn't not magically create telepathy to the public of the owner's thoughts on an item. You also do not know if certain senior IO founder's maintained even a single percent of the IP's rights. How many game company's own an IP and just let it go for nothing? There are reasons to which neither you, nor I, nor the general public are privy. Accept it and stop with the fantasy as fact bit.

There are a hundred things they could have down with Hitman and thinking that you KNOW their intent and reasons is just absurd. "Look at me, I'm Karnak the Great, all knowing seer from the east". Okay pal, off to the funny farm. You can deduce until you are blue in the face but actually knowing is, in case you are unaware and you seem to be, and entirely different matter. There are facts and there are assumptions. Your ideas like mine on this matter are assumptions. You can call it a deduction if it makes you feel better.

"They had options and it's clear they chose to sell it back to the developer, something they never needed to do."

Yeah I actually agreed with you that was likely and I said they chose to do so because as a company in it for the money it must have been a far better profit than selling it to another publisher. Try reading what I said next time. Still doesn't mke it fact. You remarks and mine are guesses.

Again without first hand knowledge of SE's financials, forecasts, and what their company analysts told them was likely YOU HAVE NO IDEA what SE NEEDED or DID NOT NEED to do. Maybe you and your multi-million dollar company conduct business differently. Wait...no you do not. You are like me, a nobody on the internet with zero knowledge of the inside workings of SE.

No other way to phrase it. You are being ridiculous. You also have zero, ZERO idea what other publishers REALLY think of the Hitman property. They may see it as dried up and run out. Or super hot. Fact is you do not know. Neither do I but I can admit that. What some publisher says publicly is hardly ever the summation of their total thoughts on the matter. You also do not know if SE shopped it around and other publishers said no thanks. Stop acting like an omnipotent being, its retarded and childish.

"I have no clue what you're talking about but there was no damn agreement with the intellectual property it was 100% fully owned by Square Enix do you not know that this company was purchased through an acquisition? "

Again YOU DO NOT KNOW. NEITHER DO I. I acknowledge what I am stating as a supposition instead of letting my pretend insider knowledge and arrogance drive the train.

You should really call Michael Pachter. The two of you share similar traits of haughtiness and both of you are about as accurate as a 20 year old Daisy air rifle with bent sights.

Think you know what a company did, what their motivations are, why they chose a certain route, and...I love this part...what they really should have done (when you have almost none of the facts) is laughable and a child's flight of fancy. Have a nice life, I'm done.

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140°

Why is Steam Blocked in Vietnam? Government Shares Reason

Finally, the Vietnamese government has officially responded to Steam being blocked in the country.

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Community11h ago
blacktiger10h ago

AMAZING! Thank You Gabe, stand for freedom of speech!!!!

PRIMORDUS9h ago

VPN to buy games, fuck that if it's allowed or not, or just use a VPN and torrent what you can.

Knightofelemia3h ago

If the game is crap then yes there will always be negative feedback it comes with the territory. It's called word of mouth or welcome to the internet. Where the truth about a game comes out really fast whether the game is good or crap. If you can't handle the criticism because of a game then why publish the game. Why should people who never criticized or even played the game be punished? Vietnam has some really screwed up laws block Steam because they don't answer us rule. And going on a witch hunt with Steam please. Where's the proof, where's the evidence of this witch hunt. Somebody is butt hurt and has a Vietnamese Karen leading the witch hunt.

250°

Take-Two CEO Doesn’t Think AI Will Reduce Employment or Dev Costs; “Stupidest Thing” He’s Heard

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick doesn't think AI will reduce employment or lower development costs, and calls it "stupidest thing" he's ever heard.

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Community1d 15h ago
lodossrage1d 16h ago (Edited 1d 16h ago )

They already have AI trained to do coding.......

How he thinks it's stupid is beyond me, Especially since we see it happening in real time.

CS71d 14h ago

Company A has 300 employees and lays of 200 to replace them with AI to release the same quality game.

Company B has 300 employees and keeps all 300 but instead uses AI to release a game with dramatically larger scale, scope, complexity, short dev cycle etc.

Company B would release a dramatically better product by using humans + AI and consumers would buy the better game.

I actually agree with this concept.

Huey_My_D_Long1d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

This is key facet. Its how the AI is used. It's actually is impressive as is and really would make an amazing addition to alot of people in their jobs, not just tech. It also has the potential for businesses to use to lay off large amounts of people, as much as they could to save money on labor. I hope too many companies don't go with the latter. But since usually companies are worried about bottom line over people...we will see some try and hopefully fail. But yeah, if its to help workers like in your company B scenario I'm totally down...Just scared Company A may be too enticing to some ceos and businesses.

Darkegg1d 13h ago

Value of AI and value of humans will both be increased with human-AI complex. Each, by themselves, will not be independently better than the other. Whether AI will ever be independent from humans is the fear question of humans, ironically because of our doing. At this stage, most of the doing is because of humans, not because of AI. AI is doing exactly that by our design, until we have failed ourselves with an AI development that went awry. The biggest take is that humans have only ourselves to blame when things become wrong, and we have to decide what is the ultimate goal with AI we want to accomplish. It would take a person with high morals and high ethics to make right of AI. I would not want businessman to decide what AI should do or what capabilities it can have. AI should be in the hands of people with high moral fiber, or those operating on love, kindness, and compassion.

BlackOni1d 13h ago

AI is SUPPOSED to be used as a tool, not a replacement. It's designed to do two important things artists can take advantage of immediately.

- Make the ideation/reference imaging process much quicker and easier (basically using it as a google search)
- Make mundane and time consuming tasks faster and easier so more time is spent on creation.

Unfortunately, what many have done is used it as a way to replace rather than supplement.

Einhander19721d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

CS7

In the ideal world yes.

In the real world where companies have shown little desire to innovate and spent every effort to maximize profits the end result will be the same quality games (if were lucky) made by less people and more AI.

Company Real World: Fires 200 people and makes the same game cheaper using AI and the executives get record bonuses.

Edit:

Lets look at history, specifically auto manufacturing.

In the 70's and 80's the auto unions tried to oppose automation of jobs (robots) stating that they would take peoples jobs. And the people in charge who wanted to make more money said the exact same types of things that are being said about AI. But we can look at history and see that countless types of jobs were in fact replaced by automation, that was of course even compounded upon by computers.

The net effect was that the rich got richer less jobs were needed so wages were forced down by competition for the jobs that were left.

hombreacabado15h ago

that concept works in the initial beginning phase of AI but once AI learns and surpasses the knowledge and coding expertise of even the best human employee than this CEO will no longer need competent humans in that line of work.

Extermin8or3_14h ago

@Hue_My£D_Long

Yes but that is a choice then by massively increased productivity and this greater income and wealth and stagnating with similar levels of productivity and output and not creating much wealth. Usually the option that creates wealth prevails because a rising tide raises all ships.

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Number1TailzFan1d 14h ago

You can already make your own SFX with text prompts now as well, of course it will lower development cost and time

1Victor1d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

WARNING WARNING ‼️ SARCASM AHEAD
Sure Strauss and robots didn’t take jobs from car factories.
Edit:Sad thing is he believes it and unfortunately he won’t be replaced for a long time by AI

senorfartcushion1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

He doesn't, he's just lying. These people lay people off so they can get bonuses. If AI takes jobs, their bonus goes bigger and the workforce goes smaller.

porkChop1d 10h ago

Because he sees AI as a tool to aid development. He wants to use AI to help make bigger and better games in the same timeframe. Other CEOs want to replace devs with AI to cut costs and make lifeless games faster for a quick buck. Strauss has the right idea, this is how AI should be used. To extend and expand the capabilities of devs.

neutralgamer199215h ago

There will be few companies who will go overboard and try to replace their employees with AI tech. The ones that will make the most money will be the ones that utilize ai, along with their employee talent, to make the best product possible

AI could handle some of the most time consuming processes. To expediate the development, so in return, costing the publisher's last money end time.

Extermin8or3_14h ago

Not reliably they haven't. Coding done by ai is generally abysmal for all but the most generic tasks.

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jambola1d 16h ago

Ceo says stupid thing
Part 5837384

Zeref1d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

I think maybe sometimes we give people in these positions too much credit when it comes to intelligence.

DarXyde18h ago

I think you mean candor, not intelligence.

If you take him to mean what he's saying at face value, sure.

I don't. And I think he's clearly lying.

romulus231d 14h ago

As long as it doesn't effect his inflated executive salary or his ridiculous bonuses I'm sure he's fine with it.

RNTody1d 14h ago

Hahaha yeah trust the CEO suit over the actual developers making the games. Good one.

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100°

Every PlayStation Studios game available now on Windows PC

Windows Central writes: "Many PlayStation Studios games that are ported to PC get dedicated PS5 DualSense support, which allows users to experience haptic feedback and adaptive trigger support without actually having to own a PS5.

According to Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, it's still the company's intent to launch the bigger single-player games on PS5 first, before later bringing the games to PC. This might not be the case for multiplayer games however, which are considered okay to launch simultaneously on console and PC."

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ocelot072d ago

My guess is after god of war. Probably last of us 2 that's a almost 4 year old game now and by the time it's released on pc it will be more than 4 years old or close to 5.

Elda2d ago

Every old Playstation game that is now on PC.

shinoff21832d ago

Right. I definitely see what a headlined from a website named windows central was trying to do though. It's cute little wordplay to help out the green box

Flewid6382d ago

Are PlayStation games no longer good or worth playing once they are old?

Elda2d ago

I'm guessing my comment went over your head.

XiNatsuDragnel2d ago

Good at least they can sell hardware