Hitman Absolution

Hitman classics Blood Money and Absolution will be re-released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next week, as part of a new Hitman HD Enhanced Collection.

The two games will offer 4K resolution, 60FPS and other tweaks in order to make the ageing stealthathons look as shiny as possible for the new year.

There's no word on pricing yet, but look for them to be available digitally on 11th January.

There's a new trailer for the Hitman: Agent 47 movie

The bald and the beautiful.

A new trailer has been released for Hitman: Agent 47, the upcoming movie reboot set to star Homeland's Rupert Friend as your favourite bald assassin.

The film looks like it will feature some familiar outfit-swapping and dual pistol shooting sequences - as well as some wonderfully clunky video game-style dialogue.

The new footage also includes a look at the characters played by Star Trek's Zachary Quinto (Spock) and Game of Thrones' Ciar�n Hinds (Mance Rayder).

Square Enix Humble Bundle contains Thief, Hitman, Lara

A steal?

Hitman publisher Square Enix is today selling a bundle of its games through Humble Bundle, with a pay-what-you-want offer available for a number of classic titles.

Hitman: Absolution and Deadlight are April's Games with Gold offerings

No foolin'.

The next two free games for Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be stealthy adventure Hitman: Absolution and 2D survival-horror affair Deadlight, Microsoft has announced.

Surprise Bravely Default success sparks Square Enix rethink

"If you focus too much on the global aspect, you might lose sight of who you're actually making the game for."

The success of superb Japanese role-playing game Bravely Default has sparked a rethink at publisher Square Enix.

First next-gen Hitman details revealed

Huge, checkpoint-free sandbox levels, globetrotting Agent 47 at the prime of his career.

In the next Hitman game, for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, you play a "globetrotting Agent 47 at the prime of his career", developer IO Interactive has revealed.

In an open letter to Hitman fans, the studio said we'll see Agent 47 "stalking his prey across the world" with the support of his long-term handler Diana Burnwood and the whole of the ICA.

The game revolves around the "core Hitman fantasy", the studio said, and is built on the Glacier 2 game engine, using "the best parts and what we have learnt through Hitman: Absolution and drawing inspiration from past titles like Contracts and Blood Money".

Homeland star to replace Paul Walker in new Hitman film - report

But can he Carrie a movie by himself?

British actor Rupert Friend will be the new face of Hitman in Agent 47, the series' upcoming Hollywood film reboot.

So, what's going on with Hitman?

IO working on PC and next-gen game. Montreal making mobile.

After the release of Hitman: Absolution - a game that failed to meet Square Enix's lofty sales expectations - and layoffs at developer IO Interactive, the future of Agent 47 was cloudy at best.

IO Interactive cancels everything that isn't Hitman, including Kane & Lynch

Lays off nearly half its staff.

Hitman developer IO Interactive has announced that it's laying off "almost half" its staff to "focus resolutely on the future vision for the Hitman franchise."

In a statement obtained by Eurogamer, Square Enix VP of corporate communications Chris Glover said, "The studio will focus resolutely on the future vision for the Hitman franchise and is in pre-production on a new AAA Hitman project. However we have taken the difficult decision to cancel other studio projects and initiatives at IO and reduce the workforce in this studio, which will impact almost half of the employees currently at IO, as we make internal adjustments to face the challenges of today's market."

"For those affected, we are extremely grateful for the hard work which they have contributed, and where it's possible and appropriate to relocate staff to open positions at other studios within the group, we will try to do so. We are also reaching out to other companies for outplacement opportunities. We sincerely wish them well in their future careers."

Hitman Absolution, Catherine free for PlayStation Plus subscribers

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Farming Simulation Vita on PS Store today.

PlayStation Plus subscribers can download stealthy shooter Hitman Absolution and bonkers puzzle game Catherine for free this month.

Square Enix thought Tomb Raider could sell nearly double its 3.4 million first month sales

Find out by how much Hitman Absolution and Sleeping Dogs failed to hit targets, too.

Tomb Raider publisher Square Enix has revealed that its internal sales expectations for the game's first month were nearly double its eventual 3.4 million haul.

The company thought its Lara Croft reboot could sell at least 5-6 million units in four weeks - a huge figure, but a total still designed to be conservative, just "80-90 per cent" of what Square Enix thought was the game's real sales potential.

It's clear that Tomb Raider fell short vastly of what Square Enix wanted, even without that extra 10-20 per cent.

Tomb Raider has sold 3.4 million copies, failed to hit expectations

Hitman Absolution sold 3.6m, Sleeping Dogs 1.75m.

3.4 million copies of Tomb Raider have been sold in four weeks, publisher Square Enix has revealed, which is not enough to hit the game's sales target.

Fast & Furious star named as new Agent 47 in Hitman film reboot

Not Vin Diesel, the other one.

Fast & Furious movie star Paul Walker will play the title character in a new Hitman film reboot.

Square Enix struggling to make money from its console games

It's an "increasingly difficult" market.

Square Enix has admitted it is struggling to make money from its console games.

Hitman HD Collection release date finally set for February

Square Enix announces trilogy pack.

Square Enix's long-rumoured Hitman HD Collection has finally been unveiled (surprise!) for release on 1st February 2013.

North American gamers get the release on 29th January.

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 pack will contain previous games Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman 3: Contracts and Hitman: Blood Money.

Devs slam Hitman: Absolution promotion that invited you to identify female Facebook friends by their "small tits" and then kill them

UPDATE: Square Enix apologises, describes promotion as "wide of the mark".

UPDATE: Hitman: Absolution publisher Square Enix has issued a short statement in response to the promotion, apologising for the app's content which it described as "wide of the mark".

UK chart: COD Black Ops 2 holds off Hitman: Absolution

Epic Mickey 2, Family Guy, PlayStation All-Stars flounder.

Hitman: Absolution has been held from the top spot in this week's UK all-formats chart. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 continued its reign on top despite an 87 per cent drop in sales from last week.

FeatureWhy are we stuck with games being released on a Friday?

An investigation into the origins, arguments and potential for change.

For as long as most folk remember, games have launched on Fridays in the UK and on Tuesday in the US. That's the way of things. Sometimes they converge for a glitzy worldwide launch but mostly they don't - they stick to the norm, and Europeans wait.

Hitman franchise future split over two teams like Call of Duty, dev says

"It's like with Treyarch and Infinity Ward."

Hitman: Absolution developer IO Interactive has likened future development of the franchise to Call of Duty's two-team cycle.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution suit in Hitman Absolution DLC

Jensen's buttons. UPDATE: Now available on Steam, priced �3.99.

UPDATE: Hitman Absolution's costume pack is now available from Steam priced �3.99.

Digital FoundryHitman: Absolution Console Performance Video

Sustained frame-rates across a range of scenarios in this analysis of Hitman: Absolution on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Digital FoundryHitman: Absolution PS3 vs. PC Comparison Video

The Sony platform compared to the PC game in this head-to-head video.

Digital FoundryHitman: Absolution Xbox 360 vs. PC Comparison Video

The console version faces off against a PC game featuring a number of visual enhancements and quality boosts.

Digital FoundryHitman: Absolution Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3 Comparison Video

Close conversion work between the two console platforms on Agent 47's return.

Digital FoundryFace-Off: Hitman Absolution

Absolute power?

Xbox 360

PlayStation 3

Square Enix backtracks on Hitman: Absolution online pass

Contracts mode now a free-for-all.

Hitman: Absolution publisher Square Enix has backtracked on its earlier decision to include an online pass with the game.

Hitman: Absolution review

Brave and bald?

Agent 47 doesn't begin Hitman: Absolution with amnesia, but the six years that have passed since we last took control of him in Blood Money do seem to have dulled his creators' recollections of what made him so popular in the first place. Hitman: Absolution is a slick, responsive and mechanically confident game - and on occasions it's one of the most satisfying stealth games in a year that already includes Dishonored - but a range of compromises to Hitman tradition mean it's still going to rub some people up the wrong way.

Hitman is a simple concept: someone gives you a target, or targets, and you take them out. The genius of it is the way the designers let you do that. It's not just about deciding whether to sneak past people or get into a gun-fight - it's about slowly tracking the movements of people through large environments and observing the ways you can manipulate them and their surroundings to bring about their downfall. Perhaps you place explosives where you know they'll wander, or maybe you arrive just in time to nudge them over a railing into a deserted alleyway, and often you do all this dressed in borrowed clothes that conceal your identity from all but the most detailed investigation.

Hitman: Absolution includes all of that stuff, and on the higher difficulty levels it leaves you to figure a lot of it out on your own. You sneak or roam in disguise through police stations, courthouses, dilapidated mob-run hotels, maize-covered farmland, factories and science labs, teasing out details about your target from overheard conversations and useful objects left on shelves or in poorly guarded rooms. Then you formulate a plan and try to pull it off. If you're new to the series or just a bit rusty, you might begin by simply trying to find a few moments alone with your target and your trusty fibre wire, but before long you're on the lookout for more elaborate and creative executions: self-immolation, industrial accidents, tainted drugs and the sudden, unexpected failure of previously reliable overhead rigging.

Hitman Absolution lets you dress as a giant chipmunk

Agent 47 shows off wardrobe of disguises.

Hitman Absolution will allow you to dress up as a man-sized chipmunk, a scarecrow and a samurai. There's also a chicken-suit to lay about in.

Hitman HD Collection PS3 Trophies pop up online

Unannounced game nears release.

Trophies for Hitman HD Collection have appeared online.

Hitman dev: standard multiplayer "always tempting", but must fit franchise

Single-player-only games here to stay, IO believes.

Hitman: Absolution developer IO Interactive has said that, while standard multiplayer deathmatch modes were "always tempting", such offerings must always feel appropriate to the game in question.

Hitman Absolution's clever Contracts mode is a "reverse murder mystery"

IO demonstrates this year's smartest multiplayer idea at the Expo.

Torben Ellert and Christian Elverdam from IO Interactive demonstrated the Contracts mode of Hitman Absolution to a rapt audience of murder simulation fans at the Eurogamer Expo this evening - describing the player-created assassination challenges as "a reverse murder mystery".

Rihanna gets dressed in Hitman: Absolution clothing

Does it suit?

R&B star Rihanna has been "spotted" dressed in Hitman: Absolution branded clothing.

Dexter, Deadwood star's Hitman Absolution role highlighted in trailer

Not playing a nun.

Dexter and Deadwood actor Keith Carradine is the latest addition to Hitman Absolution's cast.

He'll play Blake Dexter, a villainous entrepreneur with a dark past.

Developer IO Interactive describes Carradine's character as "twisted... and maybe the most vicious adversary Agent 47 has faced yet."

EGXTomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution developer sessions at Eurogamer Expo 2012

Assassin there and enjoyed what I saw.

Not only are scorchers Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution going to be playable at the Eurogamer Expo 2012, they're also going to be presented on stage by their makers, as part of the jam-packed developer sessions schedule.

Hitman Absolution level changed due to negative nun trailer reaction

"How could we not see this happening?" director wonders.

Hitman Absolution has been tweaked after negative reaction to the game's all-guns-blazing PVC-clad nun trailer.

The teaser video saw Agent 47 mercilessly assassinating a troupe of killer nuns. Hitman's trademark stealth gameplay was nowhere to be seen.

"The Saints trailer is based on a level within the game," Hitman Absolution director Tore Blystad told Eurogamer at Gamescom today. "One way to go about that level is to go in all-guns blazing, but of course, it's not the smartest way.

VideoHitman: Absolution Contracts Gamescom trailer

Order your own hits.

Hitman Absolution introduces online mode Contracts

Challenge creator allows user generated hits.

Hitman Absolution is getting an all-new online challenge creator, designed to extend the game's life beyond its single player campaign.

Final Fantasy maker Square Enix posts loss during quiet quarter

No Wonderland for them.

Japanese mega publisher Square Enix made a loss during the recent financial quarter off the back of a quiet release schedule.

Hitman: Absolution 17 minute dev walkthrough

Not a single nun in sight.

Hitman: Absolution publisher Square Enix has released a 17 minute developer walkthrough of IO Interactive's upcoming stealth adventure for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC due 20th November.

VideoHitman: Absolution killer nuns video feature

VideoHitman: Absolution killer nun video interview

Kill Bill's Copperhead plays chief Hitman: Absolution nun assassin

And you thought they were just in the trailer.

Kill Bill actress Vivica Fox will play the head of Hitman: Absolution's squad of killer nuns.

Hitman: Deluxe Professional Edition announced

Includes 10" Agent 47 statue.

Hitman Absolution is to receive yet another special edition on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The Deluxe Professional Edition adds a collectible 10" vinyl statue of Agent 47 and comes with everything else available in the game's already-announced standard Professional Edition.

That includes a hardcover art book, a making-of DVD and an unlock code for the game's Agency Gun Pack DLC.

EGXTomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution both playable at Eurogamer Expo

Square Enix titles join Assassin's Creed 3, Resident Evil 6 and more.

Good news! Today we can reveal that Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution will also be among the many playable games on this year's Eurogamer Expo show floor.

Only 20% of players will finish Hitman: Absolution, reckons IO

"It makes the people working on it really really sad."

The vast majority of those playing Hitman: Absolution won't stick with the game long enough to experience its final level, according to developer IO Interactive's expectations.

FeatureHitman Absolution Preview: Classic Hitman Returns

Get thee to a (sexy) nunnery?

For much of the build up to 47's return IO Interactive and Square Enix have blushed and hidden behind a marketing plan whenever awkward questions like "Is there actually any proper Hitman?" crop up. This has been a shame. Linear stealthing past roaming ultra-sweary gangsters in libraries and orphanages is fine and dandy, but it's not why we love Hitman. Neither, incidentally, are sequences in which 47 performs a series of full-frontal takedowns on a squad of bondage death-nuns.

Hitman is about taking the time out to watch who goes where, and who does what. It's working out how to get into buildings; who you steal clothes from, what you're carrying and where you've stashed your weaponry. It's about dressing as a clown and amusing yourself by pushing council workers into dump trucks. It's about best made plans going very wrong, and having to shove bodies into cupboards to cover your tracks at the very last minute.

Let's hold hands and offer a votive of thanks, then, that Square Enix has finally let us play something that's proper Hitman. This Chinatown execution isn't as playful or colourful as Hitman sandboxes gone by, but it still features a multitude of ways to off your target.

Hitman HD Collection spotted for PS3

Silent Assassin! Contracts! Blood Money!

A trilogy of Hitman games are being packaged together for re-release on PlayStation 3, a retailer listing suggests.

VideoExplosive Hitman: Absolution trailer has killer nuns

Rocket-toting PVC-clad killer nuns.

Mysterious Hitman: Absolution E3 teaser image released

New trailer coming tomorrow, 1pm UK time.

VideoHitman: Sniper Challenge trailer goes behind the scenes

How Square Enix developed the Hitman: Absolution pre-order incentive.

VideoHitman: Sniper Challenge launch trailer

Standalone pre-order experience available now.

IO: Hitman Absolution gameplay videos don't tell the whole story

"How do you make a trailer of stealth?"

Hitman: Absolution IO Interactive has promised hardcore stealth fans they will find the gameplay they know and love from the series - and that the videos and trailers released so far do not tell the whole story.

Absolution trailers and gameplay videos have thus far shown Agent 47's more murderous side in action sequences clearly inspired by Naughty Dog's best work. In one video, Hitman goes on a murderous rampage in a Chicago library - killing scores of cops.

This is not the Hitman of old, some of the Hitman purists groomed by Blood Money claim. But according to IO producer Luke Valentine, Absolution offers the best of both worlds: action focused gameplay and bitterly difficult, hardcore stealth. And veteran Hitman fans shouldn't be fooled by the marketing.

FeatureHitman Sniper Challenge: Premeditated Murder

Does Agent 47's pre-order bonus put a bullet in the head of traditional game marketing?

A smartly dressed figure sits on a rooftop, cradling a powerful rifle. There's an open-air party on top of the building opposite: a helicopter lands, and a VIP gets out, flanked by a small army of bodyguards. Our mysterious observer raises his weapon, his bald head leans into the scope revealing the barcode tattoo on the back of his skull. Aim. Squeeze. Fire.

Deus Ex and Final Fantasy 13-2 make Square Enix profitable

Mm, profiteroles.

Last autumn's Deus Ex: Human Revolution and this year's Final Fantasy 13-2 have helped Square Enix return to profit making.

VideoHitman Absolution: Sniper Challenge Pre-Order Mini Game Video

Capture of the Hitman Absolution standalone pre-order bonus game.

Hitman: Absolution release date announced

November swells.

Hitman: Absolution launches on Tuesday, 20th November, Square Enix has announced.

The news comes as Danish developer IO Interactive announced Hitman: Sniper Challenge, a standalone shooting game granted as a pre-order bonus. That launches next Tuesday, 15th May.

Hitman: Absolution is the first Hitman game in six years, and is built using IO's own game engine, Glacier 2. It stars Agent 47, who once again must skulk about taking out marks. Or just shoot everyone in the face. Your call.

VideoHitman: Sniper Challenge trailer

Boom. Headshot.

IO confirms Hitman: Sniper Challenge with trailer, screenshots

Standalone experience free to all who pre-order Hitman: Absolution.

Danish developer IO Interactive has announced Hitman: Sniper Challenge, a standalone experience free to all who pre-order Hitman: Absolution.

Sniper Challenge sees Hitman crouched on the roof of a building, overlooking the Chicago skyline. In the distance is another building. On the roof is a crowd of people partying. Guards are on patrol all around. The mark is Richard Strong Junior, the CEO of a weapons manufacturer called Stallion Armaments. Agent 47's job is to eliminate Strong after he arrives on the roof in a helicopter, all of his guards, and, if possible, without causing a fuss, within a 15 minute time limit. All with sniper shots.

IO producer Luke Valentine told Eurogamer Sniper Challenge is a thank you to all the fans who have waited so long for the next Hitman game - the last game in the series, Blood Money, launched six years ago. And despite it offering a glimpse at Absolution, Sniper Challenge is entirely independent of that game, indeed it offers players the first chance to play any kind of experience built using Glacier 2 - IO's ambitious new game engine.

Hitman: Sniper Challenge screenshots

Hitman: Sniper Challenge revealed by US magazine

Pre-order Hitman: Absolution to download spin-off.

Spin-off Hitman game Sniper Challenge has been revealed by a US magazine.

VideoAgent 47 stars in new Hitman Absolution gameplay trailer

Mark one.

VideoHitman Absolution trailer talks with voice actors

Mo-cap cut-scenes revealed.

Hitman Absolution: Professional Edition announced

Suits you?

Hitman Absolution publisher Square Enix has revealed the game's Professional Edition, a limited edition version of the game available on all three formats - PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Included is a copy of the game in a clamshell box, a hardcover art book, a making-of DVD and a code to unlock three in-game weapons.

The in-game content, named the Agency Gun Pack DLC, offers advanced access to weapons provided by Agent 47's Agency, all of which offer upgraded laser sights or silencers.

VideoFresh Hitman: Absolution trailer slices in

Axe-wielding priest-dressing Agent 47 returns.

VideoHitman Absolution gameplay in London press event video

Can you spot Eurogamer's own Martin Robinson?

VideoHitman Absolution trailer shows off Agent 47's handler

Meet Diana Burnwood.

New Hitman novel announced

Bridges the gap between Blood Money and Absolution.

A new novel based in the Hitman universe arrives in bookshops this Summer, franchise custodian Square Enix has announced.

Authored by Raymond Benson and published by Del Ray and a, it's titled Hitman: Damnation and takes place between 2006's Blood Money and the forthcoming Absolution.

The plot sees Agent 47 tasked with assassinating various high-level US political figures. However, he smells a rat and is duly plunged into a web of lies, deceit and murder.

FeatureAgent of Change: Hitman Absolution Preview

Killer instinct.

Here's the scene; an orphanage, on a dark and typically stormy night. Blood runs through the corridors, and fresh corpses pile up by the walls. In the nursery, under bright birthday bunting, there's a lullaby of screams as a guard strapped to a wooden chair is slowly tortured.

Meanwhile, a silent killer picks off his prey one-by-one. At one moment in this violent game of hide and seek, a brightly coloured beach ball rolls silently past - at another, with one more victim dispatched, the body's hidden in a nearby ball-pool. It's an orphanage, but with the body count tick-tick-ticking ever upwards it may as well be an orphan factory.

For all the concerns about Hitman: Absolution's grittier, more action-led take on Danish developer IO Interactive's bloodthirsty mascot, it's most definitely retained its line in jet-black humour. "We tried to take it out of Absolution in the beginning," says game director Tore Blystad, a man that, despite being in charge of one of the medium's most notorious killers, can't hold back the widest and most infectious of grins, "we wanted it to be more serious, so this humour had to go. But then it crept back in, so we had to embrace it. It's one of the fundamental pillars of the game."

VideoNew Hitman Absolution trailer minted

Agent 47 coins the fray.

Hitman dev IO making new IP after Absolution

Not Kane & Lynch, not Mini Ninjas.

Danish Hitman developer IO Interactive will work on new IP following the completion of Hitman Absolution.

VideoHitman: Absolution commentary trailer

Directors talk over extended footage.

Video15 mins of Hitman: Absolution gameplay

Agent 47 runs for his life.

VideoFirst Hitman: Absolution gameplay

Agent 47 goes rogue.

FeatureHitman: Absolution Returns

Lead producer Hakan Abrak on hardcore achievements, online and more.

With Hitman: Absolution, Danish developer IO Interactive is crafting a darker, more personal story than fans are used to. But, more controversially, it's also crafting a more cinematic experience, with plenty of action and shooting. At least, this is what it looks like IO is crafting.

Hitman has difficulty just for hardcore

And stealth assassin achievements/trophies.

Hitman: Absolution features a difficulty level designed specifically for veteran fans of the series, and will reward those who play the game as if they were playing past entries in the franchise.

IO aware of Hitman fan feedback

Absolution lead discusses new direction.

Hitman: Absolution developer IO Interactive is listening to fan feedback on the latest installment in its assassin franchise, but refuses "to be dictated to".

VideoHitman Absolution gameplay shown

In-game Agent 47 combat footage.

VideoStunning Hitman: Absolution trailer

Agent 47 in steamy action.

FeatureHitman: Absolution

Costume drama.

The art of quietly skulking in the shadows, treading softly and waiting in the wings for a stealthy kill has become incredibly loud over the past few years. Since 2006's Hitman: Blood Money, Arkham Asylum lent the stalk 'em-up genre the gravitas of an icon as well as a handful of new ideas. Meanwhile, last year's Splinter Cell: Conviction turned Sam Fisher into a primitive, snarling action hero.

New Hitman Absolution screenshots

Hitman: Absolution screens sneak in

First in-game images of Agent 47.

IO clarifies Hitman: Absolution difficulty

Core fans have nothing to worry about.

Hitman developer IO Interactive has clarified comments made last week suggesting the next game in the series, Hitman: Absolution, will be easier than past entries.

Hitman: Absolution to be "more accessible"

IO: franchise has been an "acquired taste".

Hitman: Absolution will be aimed at a wider audience than earlier, less forgiving entries in the franchise, developer IO Interactive has revealed.

Square Enix blames bad year on FFXIV

And a "weak" console performance.

Square Enix is blaming a bad year on a "weak" console performance; the "continued delay in billing" for embattled MMO Final Fantasy XIV Online; the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan; and the write-off of goodwill - i.e. companies bought by the publisher now not being worth as much.

New Hitman: Absolution details

"More stylised, serious, darker."

The main villain in Hitman: Absolution is Blake Dexter, played by Cowboys & Aliens star Keith Carradine.

Agent 47's handler is Diana Burnwood, played by White Collar's Marsha Thomason. Diana is said to have a "close relationship" with Agent 47, Hollywood Reporter revealed.

"Diana is 47's only true human contact," Thomason said. "They've known each other an extremely long time, and in the Hitman world, she is what Q is to James Bond. So she sets the assignments, tells him where to go and who to kill."

Hitman 5 teaser trailer unleashed

UPDATE: First plot details inside.

UPDATE: Hitman 5 is indeed called Hitman: Absolution. According to the official blurb: "Hitman Absolution follows Agent 47, a cold blooded assassin, who takes on his most dangerous contract to date. Betrayed by those he trusted and hunted by the police, he finds himself at the centre of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world, in his search for the truth."

Absolution has been built "from the ground up" by IO Interactive using its new proprietary Glacier 2 technology. "Boasting a cinematic story, distinctive art direction and highly original game design, Hitman Absolution combines much-loved classic gameplay with completely new features never seen before in the Hitman franchise," Square Enix said.

"For the first time we are taking Agent 47 on a personal journey which allows us to explore other parts of the Hitman fantasy," said game director Tore Blystad. "This is both a familiar and yet significantly different experience from other Hitman games; something our silent assassins will relish, as will all those new to the Hitman world."

VideoHitman 5 teaser trailer revealed

Agent 47 back in action.

Square trademarks Hitman: Absolution

Official Hitman 5 title revealed?

The forthcoming Hitman sequel reportedly in development at IO Interactive could be called Hitman: Absolution, judging by a new trademark listing filed by publisher Square Enix.

First Hitman 5 screenshot revealed

Viral marketing comes to a close.

The first screenshot of Hitman 5 has hit the internet � and pointed towards a reveal at E3 in June.

First Hitman 5 screenshot

Hitman 5 clues crescendo

Grr, ARG.

Evidence of a new Hitman game is mounting.

Agent 47 voice actor confirms Hitman 5

IO surprised by comments.

The voice actor who plays Agent 47 in the Hitman series has only gone and confirmed the heavily-rumoured Hitman 5.

"I have been overwhelmingly gratified and humbled by the sheer dedication to the Hitman franchise that the fans have expressed," David Bateson said in an interview with The Gaming Liberty.

"For all the kind things that have been said, I am truly thankful. That kind of dedication and appreciation of the game deserves repayment... with an even more gob smacking instalment in Hitman 5. I don't envy IO Interactive for the pressure they must be under to deliver. I am utterly convinced they will!"

Hitman 5 out Xmas 2011 "at the earliest"

IO hard at work, sources tell us.

Danish developer IO Interactive is hard at work on the next game in the popular Hitman series, Eurogamer has learned.

Hitman games half-price this weekend

When you buy them from good old Steam.

All the instalments in the Hitman series are being offered for half-price on Steam this weekend.

Rocksteady not doing Hitman 5 after all

Eidos boss shoots down those rumours.

Eidos bossman Ian Livingstone has dismissed suggestions Rocksteady Games is working on a new Hitman title.

Hitman creators set up new studio

It'll make online multiplayer games.

The founders of IO Interactive have established a new development studio called Reto-Moto.

Kane & Lynch dated

Plus Lara and Agent 47 chatter.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men will be released on 23rd November in Europe following a 20th November launch across the pond.