Eidos acquires Hitman developer as profits rise

By Games Industry.biz Published 4 March, 2004

Old McGarvey had a farm, IO, IO, Oh. And on on that farm he bought a dev...

British publisher Eidos Interactive has announced its intention to purchase Danish development studio IO Interactive, creator of the Hitman series of games, along with rising profits in the first half of its financial year.

The purchase of IO is expected to be completed by the end of the month, and sees Eidos handing out an up front payment of £23 million (€36 million) in cash and stock, along with a payment of up to £5 million (€7.5m) linked to four year performance of the studio.

IO, whose last game in the Hitman series sold over three million units, joins a line-up of internal Eidos studios which includes Crystal Dynamics and Ion Storm Austin in the USA along with Core Design and the recently founded Beautiful Game Studios here in the UK.

News of the acquisition came along with the announcement of Eidos' results for the six months ended December 31st. During the period, the company saw its post-tax profits rise 42 per cent, despite an 11.5 per cent drop in turnover.

The fall in turnover was attributed to the underperformance of two titles as well as the weak US dollar and, apparently, US hardware sales falling short of market forecasts. However, operating profit was up by some 30 per cent, representing a successful first half for the company, and Eidos believes that it is on track to meet expectations for the full year through to June 30th.

Along with the Hitman series, IO Interactive was also responsible for the surprisingly enjoyable Freedom Fighters, published by Electronic Arts last year.

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Comments (7) Latest comment 8 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Zero Beat #1 8 years ago

    So that's one less for EA to grab then...

    ;)

  • Tiger_Walts #2 8 years ago

    Is this where IO's influential staff leave to form a new dev-co?

  • Dirtbox #3 8 years ago

    Thats the end of IO then. Eidos will bleed the poor fuckers dry.

  • tannerd #4 8 years ago

    The fall in turnover was attributed to the underperformance of two titles...

    Do we know which two?

  • MikeD #5 8 years ago

    Goodbye IO. Now onyl crap will come from you.

    Damn Eidos, DAMN YOU!



    Seriously though, how can a developer, which is succesful and thus doesn't need to be bought, with a healthy conscience sell itself to Eidos? Don't these people love games themselves? Are they just in it for the money?

  • Whizzo #6 8 years ago

    I think the latest Tomb Raider is one of them.

  • bzzct #7 8 years ago

    Seriously though, how can a developer, which is succesful and thus doesn't need to be bought, with a healthy conscience sell itself to Eidos? Don't these people love games themselves? Are they just in it for the money?

    I'm guessing job security would be a big plus. Having released a few successful games is hardly enough to guarantee security for years to come. After all, developers are always saying how difficult it is to get publisher backing.