Here's the most important snippet from the press release sent out today:
QuoteTherefore 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.
Very welcome news after a period of uncertainty since Square Enix decided to start cutting down, which included removing their funding of IO Interactive.
Hopefully they will continue to work with Feral Interactive to bring more exciting titles to Linux. Without a publisher funding them though, this could mean future titles may end up watered-down compared to what they've done recently. Considering how well the latest HITMAN has done for them, I am hopeful they will continue pushing out great games.
I personally think the latest HITMAN is fantastic and I've certainly enjoyed my time with it. I am really hoping they do a second season as I need more.
See the full post here. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Kimyrielle 16 Jun 2017
I am totally not sure if this is good news. Actually more the opposite. Square Enix is quite Linux friendly. Until proven otherwise, we have not the slightest reason to believe that IO will be the same. They are a Windows-only studio having made nothing but Windows games so far (if I am not totally mistaken), and it was -Square Enix- that hired Feral to do the port.
6 Likes, Who?
I am totally not sure if this is good news. Actually more the opposite. Square Enix is quite Linux friendly. Until proven otherwise, we have not the slightest reason to believe that IO will be the same. They are a Windows-only studio having made nothing but Windows games so far (if I am not totally mistaken), and it was -Square Enix- that hired Feral to do the port.
They could've kill both the studio and the franchise, y'know.
4 Likes, Who?
I am totally not sure if this is good news. Actually more the opposite. Square Enix is quite Linux friendly. Until proven otherwise, we have not the slightest reason to believe that IO will be the same. They are a Windows-only studio having made nothing but Windows games so far (if I am not totally mistaken), and it was -Square Enix- that hired Feral to do the port.I don't think anybody hires Feral, Aspyr & VP directly. I think they reach out to developers and publishers to port their games.
There's no reason to assume IO will suddenly be anti-Linux.
3 Likes, Who?
I'm interested in whether they'll start releasing their games DRM-free.
4 Likes, Who?
I don't think anybody hires Feral, Aspyr & VP directly. I think they reach out to developers and publishers to port their games.
Not necessarily. It can go in both directions.
Last edited by Shmerl on 16 Jun 2017 at 7:08 pm UTC
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It can, but that won't happen often for Linux. Not many bigger developers and publishers are interested in Linux. From what I know and understand, it's often porters reaching out, not the other way around.I don't think anybody hires Feral, Aspyr & VP directly. I think they reach out to developers and publishers to port their games.
Not necessarily. It can go in both directions.
1 Likes, Who?
We can ask Knockout Games (Aaron Melcher) if he is more often hired, or reaches out to developers with such proposals. I think the former.
Which reminds me. I wonder what happened to the Shadow Warrior 2. It was still supposedly coming, but there are no news.
Last edited by Shmerl on 16 Jun 2017 at 7:13 pm UTC
Which reminds me. I wonder what happened to the Shadow Warrior 2. It was still supposedly coming, but there are no news.
Last edited by Shmerl on 16 Jun 2017 at 7:13 pm UTC
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LinuxGamesTV 16 Jun 2017
......
There's no reason to assume IO will suddenly be anti-Linux.
We will see.
1 Likes, Who?
It can, but that won't happen often for Linux.
[From the previous interview on GOL](https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/interview-with-linux-game-porter-knockout-games-porter-of-shadow-warrior-more.5316):
Q: When you want to get porting, do you reach out to developers, or do they reach out to you?
A: Both. I mostly get referrals, but I will reach out to developers of a game I'm a big fan of. That's one of the reasons I decided to start this thing, freedom to chose my work.
It's not so clear though what happens with HB first, and whether they reach out to developers as well, or the other way around. Are they even still doing it? In the early days HB were pushing this work. No idea what's going on today with it.
Last edited by Shmerl on 16 Jun 2017 at 7:18 pm UTC
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There's a big difference between a small one man studio going for smaller games, to porting houses like Feral, VP and Aspyr (the one's I actually mentioned).It can, but that won't happen often for Linux.
From the previous interview on GOL:
Q: When you want to get porting, do you reach out to developers, or do they reach out to you?
A: Both. I mostly get referrals, but I will reach out to developers of a game I'm a big fan of. That's one of the reasons I decided to start this thing, freedom to chose my work.
It's not so clear though what happens with HB first, and whether they reach out to developers as well, or the other way around. Are they even still doing it? In the early days HB were pushing this work. No idea what's going on today with it.
I see this as good news, but feel free to be as pessimistic as you like ;)
1 Likes, Who?
It all depends on the interest really. VP said, CDPR hired them explicitly to port The Witcher 2 for example. Same with Flying Wild Hog and Shadow Warrior. And if the porting company proposes it first, and gaming studio agrees, it's good all the same. So we'll have to wait and see what IO Interactive will do about this. I'm more interested in whether they'll consider not to be Steam exclusive anymore.
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elbuglione 16 Jun 2017
SquareEnix is not the best Company...
mybe the furture HITMANs will be more strong than ever.
mybe the furture HITMANs will be more strong than ever.
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https://twitter.com/feralgames/status/875689145254936578
Congratulations @IOInteractive and @HITMAN! You've always been one of our favourite partners. We look forward to many more hits to come.
6 Likes, Who?
I'm interested in whether they'll start releasing their games DRM-free.Me too, but even if IOI decides to release their games on GOG (for example) it doesn’t mean that Feral will follow… They could remove the always-online junk from Hitman though.
That would prove the idea that Feral are DRM inclined, which some here didn't agree with. I guess time will tell.
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Dribbleondo 16 Jun 2017
I'm interested in whether they'll start releasing their games DRM-free.
That's very unlikely, though I could see them releasing the older 90's Hitman games DRM-Free on GOG or something.
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I'm interested in whether they'll start releasing their games DRM-free.
That's very unlikely
Why exactly? Since they are independent, they don't need to follow the sick DRM mindset of legacy publishers. Or are you saying they are the same? Early Hitman games are [already sold on GOG](https://www.gog.com/games?devpub=io_interactive&sort=bestselling&page=1).
Last edited by Shmerl on 16 Jun 2017 at 8:57 pm UTC
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I don't know if it's a good news for linux gamers, but it's a good news for video game imo. It's always better that game developping studios are not owned by big publishers. Being independant means for room for creativity.
5 Likes, Who?
I wonder what happened to the Shadow Warrior 2. It was still supposedly coming, but there are no news.It may be canceled if the Windows version didn't sell very well.
Sometimes Linux support drop out is because the game had poor reception in the first place.
2 Likes, Who?
I don't know if it's a good news for linux gamers, but it's a good news for video game imo. It's always better that game developping studios are not owned by big publishers. Being independant means for room for creativity.I agree with you, this is good news for video games as such first, And lets hope it will end up with a Linux port in the end.
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