IO Interactive has opened a third studio in Barcelona to support development of Hitman, James Bond and its unannounced new IP.
The news was revealed during GI Live: Online in a keynote talk featuring Hakan Abrak, the CEO of IO Interactive. The Barcelona office is described as an elite studio and joins the company s teams in Copenhagen and Malmö. After the [Hitman] trilogy, it s safe to say that Agent 47 needs a bit of a breather. He needs a break, Abrak revealed in a video interview with
GamesIndustry.biz. But that doesn t mean things aren t happening in the World of Assassination. We have some pretty cool ideas that we re looking into, and some of those will bear fruit. You ll seem some development there that s a bit different.
The event is about the business of indie games development, and has been programmed by
GamesIndustry.biz with support from EGX Rezzed. Alongside the talks, there are meetings and private, behind-closed-doors sessions with the likes of Warren Spector, Brenda Romero, Xbox and Valve. You can see the full schedule here.
The event is headline sponsored by Xsolla, and has been backed by CrazyLabs, Creative England (Advance Initiative), Curve Digital, gnet, LEGO Ventures, Limited Run, My.Games, nDreams, Renaissance PR.
We ve got a number of big keynote sessions today, beginning with Helen Chiang, the corporate vice president of the Minecraft franchise. You can catch all the talks on our YouTube channel, or alternative you can watch them right here. Here s what we ve got coming up:
GI Live: Online is a week away, and here is the final schedule of speakers, roundtable sessions and special guests.
60 publishers are set to meet with hundreds of indie developers at the show, via our 1-to-1 meeting system and in a special industry Discord.
Tickets cost $50 for developers and publishers (+ VAT), and can be bought here. The event runs Wednesday, April 14th - Friday, April 16th.
Speakers include Unity and Nifty Games Peter Moore, Minecraft boss Helen Chiang, IO Interactive head Hakan Abrak and Velan Studios boss Guha Bala. Plus, we will have sessions with trailer experts gnet, the developer and publisher of Human: Fall Flat will discuss their relationship, Sumo CEO Carl Cavers will talk about that studio s journey, and Iam8bit will detail how anyone can take part in the physical games market.
The company has already pulled the plug on the browser-based store, and the stores accessible through the consoles themselves will go dark on July 2 (for PS3 and PSP) and August 27 (Vita).
It s a distressing move to many who value gaming history and want to ensure it remains accessible, to those who cling to notions of games as goods that can be owned rather than services that can only be accessed at the whim of a publisher, and to those who just want to be able to recommend ZHP Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman to others and find mild comfort in hearing them politely lie, Yeah, I really gotta pick that up.
Two of the biggest names in physical games and merchandise are coming to GI Live: Online this month.
The event, which takes place April 14th - 16th, is filled with investors, publishers, indie developers and service companies looking to discover games, attract funding and share advice on making games more successful.
Limited Run is a specialist games retailer (and finalist for the Indie Publishing Awards) that produces special physical versions of games. They will be hosting a roundtable with indie developers and publishers at the show. Tickets are on sale here.
Meanwhile, Iam8bit s Jon Gibson and Amanda White will be joining GamesIndustry.biz on a session looking at the growth and opportunities in the physical space.