IO Interactive Goes Fully Independent

I guess this counts as a happy ending, if there is such a thing. Last May, Square Enix made it public that they were trying to get rid of Hitman Developer IO Interactive, either selling it to another major publisher or simply dropping it entirely. This, of course, made fans rather anxious, as despite Square Enix's desire to get rid of the company people have generally been digging the new Hitman games and didn't want to go without getting a season 2. Things only got worse when it was announced that the company suffered a wave of layoffs: it seemed like this might be well and truly the end of IO.

But despite the hardships, despite the uncertainty and fear, IO remains and stands strong: they announced over the weekend that they have now gone fully independent from Square Enix, and are now working on their own. And the best part? They could even take their Hitman IP with them.

They posted a very long letter about the transition and their future on their blog, which is right here, but I'll highlight the important bit:

I am proud to announce today that IOI is now officially an independent studio. We have successfully concluded our negotiations with Square Enix and have agreed to a management buyout. Crucially, we will keep all of the rights to the Hitman IP. This is a watershed moment for IOI. As of today, we have complete control over the direction for our studio and the Hitman IP were about to forge our own future and its incredibly exciting. We are now open to opportunities with future collaborators and partners to help strengthen us as a studio and ensure that we can produce the best games possible for our community.

Bright futures and smooth sailing from here on out, then? Seems unlikely. They still did have to trim their employees, so morale is probably low and they won't be working as efficiently, but the sentiment is appreciated regardless. And it's far better than the other scenario where they go out of business entirely.

...but this also brings up an interesting realization: no one else wanted to buy IO Interactive. Either negotiations fell through, or there wasn't a market for what Square was selling. Is faith in the Hitman developer just that low? Granted, a lot can go wrong during those kinds of deals, but still...

Ah well. No point lingering on what could have been. Let's just get hyped for an exciting new future for IO, yeah?