Danske IO Interactive er for øjeblikket ved at gøre deres Hitman: Absolution færdig til at kunne sende det på gaden i det nye år. Ambitionerne rækker dog meget længere og deres udgiver, Square Enix, har nu meddelt, at de for fremtiden vil få hjælp fra deres nystiftede Montreal-afdeling (Canada). Tager du i dag turen forbi Gamasutra, kan du læse et interview med IO-chef Niels Sørensen, som bl.a. forklarer, at hvis Hitman skal tage det næste skridt, vil det kræve flere ressourcer og mere “man-power” end de har gående på Kalvebod Brygge. Dertil vil IO Interactive splitte deres hold lidt op og give Hitman-folkene nye opgaver at kaste sig over, da Sørensen mener at det er den bedste måde at holde folk friske på. Square Enix har netop fortalt, at de er i gang med en række nye projekter, og det vil være nærliggende at tro, at IO også er involveret dér.

Three IO employees are joining the Montreal studio to help direct the team and cement the communication among the two teams in their disparate geographies, and Sorensen calls Montreal studio head Lee Seigelson a valued colleague for some time. “We’re really thankful that our guys are going over there to help start the studio, and to ensure that the game they make is faithful to the Hitman experience.”

Having multiple studios work on one game is increasingly common in the AAA industry, a sign of an ever-increasing quality bar and project scope. “It’s a natural step for any ambitious IP,” suggests Sorensen. “I think it shows the ambition level, but the way I look at it is a very natural evolution.”

“I think the amount of manpower you need to provide to a game in order to achieve AAA quality is definitely growing,” he says. And for companies that want to avoid long gaps between series releases or who want to release games more frequently, then multiple-studio collaboration is “simply a must by now.”