IO Interactive says the Hitman franchise is "on hiatus"

IO Interactive’s chief creative officer and co-owner Christian Elverdam has confirmed that the series will take a backseat for a while as the studio works on other projects.

The details:

• Elverdam confirmed in an interview with Eurogamer that, with the release of Hitman: World of Assassination, the studio's collection of its three most recent mainline titles, the franchise will now go on "hiatus" to allow IO to work on other projects. The developer previously canceled many of its non-Hitman projects after 2012's Hitman: Absolution was widely regarded as the series' low point, but the reboot has put the franchise back on track, giving IO more freedom going forward.
• IO recently announced that it is developing an "online fantasy RPG" under the codename "Project Fantasy." It's unclear how long the game has been in development, but it's most likely still in the early stages and at least five years away. The studio is also working on a new 007 title that will feature a "wholly original Bond story" and follow the iconic character as he works his way up the ranks of MI6 as a 00 secret agent. Little is known about the project so far, other than that it's still in the works, but based on job listings at the studio, it could be a third-person shooter.
• World of Assassination, the most recent Hitman entry, will continue to receive expansions in the future, having received a free update in January that included a new rogue-like mode titled Freelancer. There's no word on what's next for the game, but we do know that Agent 47 will not be appearing in a mainline title for quite some time.

Other notable gaming news:

• Microsoft has confirmed that Sony declined its offer to bring Call of Duty to its PlayStation Plus subscription service as it continues its pursuit of Activision-Blizzard. Sony stated that allowing Call of Duty on the subscription would require it to pay higher licensing fees, increasing the price of the service, and "commercially destroying" the current model.
• Bethesda’s Starfield has been given a new release date of September 6, 2023, after multiple delays. Originally intended for a 2022 release, the game was pushed back to "the first half" of 2023 before being moved to the second half of the year to give the studio extra development time.