IO Interactive Confirms New Hitman Game After Eminem Elusive Target And 007 First Light Reveal

Hitman fans have barely had time to process the fact that Eminem has stepped into Agent 47s world before another bombshell lands: IO Interactive has openly acknowledged that a brand new Hitman game is on the horizon. The studio has just rolled out a headline grabbing update for Hitman: World of Assassination, turning the rap icon, Grammy winner and Academy Award recipient into the latest limited time Elusive Target, and at the same time its leadership is finally talking about what comes after the current era of contract killing.

From now until December 31, players can log in and hunt down Slim Shady in a special mission that is available free of charge as part of the World of Assassination Free Starter Pack.

That means even lapsed players and complete newcomers can dive into the games clockwork stealth sandbox, case the level, learn his routines and ultimately orchestrate the perfect hit on one of the most recognisable musicians on the planet. The mission follows the classic Elusive Target formula: a narrow window of availability, high stakes and no room for sloppy execution, which should make this crossover a must play challenge for anyone who has ever toyed with the idea of outsmarting a celebrity inside Hitmans meticulous assassination playground.

Yet the most intriguing part of IO Interactives latest media tour is not just the high profile collaboration, but what CEO Hakan Abrak is finally willing to say about the series future. In a conversation with Variety, he stressed that World of Assassination is not the end of the road, describing co operative play as the next big evolution for the current platform. According to Abrak, the team wants to get through this year and roll out more news on co op first, because expanding the game so that two assassins can work together opens up fresh combinations of tools, disguises and strategies within its intricate levels.

Only after that push into shared contracts will the studio lift the veil on what comes next for Agent 47, but Abrak is crystal clear that the franchise is not being abandoned. The company had placed Hitman on a semi official hiatus for the past couple of years while it scaled up other projects, leading some fans to worry that the bald assassin had holstered his iconic Silverballers for good. Instead, the message now is that this break was a pause to regroup, not a farewell tour, and that the next full Hitman release will build on everything IO Interactive has learned from years of iterating on open ended assassination sandboxes.

Abrak also used the interview to underline just how unusual the studios partnership with the James Bond licence really is. Over the decades, IO Interactive has mostly relied on its own creations, from early cult favourites to the long running Hitman saga, and he explained that Bond is the only external, licensed universe they have chosen to adopt because it aligns so naturally with their speciality in stealth, infiltration and espionage fantasies. After a quarter of a century spent perfecting the fantasy of slipping into restricted areas, blending into crowds and executing surgical strikes as a professional agent, the move into a fully fledged Bond game feels, in his words, like a match made in heaven.

For players eagerly tracking IO Interactives wider slate, that Bond project finally has a name and a date circled on the calendar. 007 First Light is slated to launch on March 27, 2026, and unlike the endlessly replayable puzzle box structure of Hitman, it is being pitched as a more traditionally linear, narrative driven adventure. Think of the studio applying its meticulous level design and systems expertise to something closer in spirit to the cinematic pacing of Naughty Dogs Uncharted series, with big set pieces, sharp character work and a strong throughline rather than a stack of standalone missions that can be tackled in any order.

Layered on top of all this is the mysterious online fantasy role playing game that IO Interactive is quietly developing in parallel, signalling that the studio is intent on expanding far beyond contemporary contract killers and tuxedo clad superspies. Juggling a co op enhanced World of Assassination platform, a prestige single player Bond adventure and an all new fantasy universe would be a tall order for any company, but it also suggests a level of confidence in the teams ability to grow while still honouring the series that put it on the map. For longtime fans, the takeaway is simple: enjoy the chance to stalk Eminem through a meticulously crafted level this year, keep an eye on the evolution of co operative play, and rest easy knowing that once 007 has had his moment in the spotlight, Agent 47 will be stepping back out of the shadows.