There seems to be a lot of confusion lately as to what is exactly happening with the Hitman video game franchise. Since 2006 there hasn’t been a Hitman video game. We’ve had a movie since then but no video game. There were rumours that 2010 would be the year when the Hitman series went truly next-gen but we’re now nearing the end of October and no one seems to know what is happening with Agent 47.

I took it upon myself to do a little research to see if I find any info on Hitman 5 and a couple of Google searches later I stumbled upon only two articles of any worth that sheds any sort of light on Hitman 5.

Up first there was the “slip” by David Bateson who fans may know provides the voice for Agent 47. He recently let slip in an interview with The Gaming Liberty that he has seen the artwork for Hitman 5 and was blown away by what he saw. He sounded like he wanted to share more info but he had to stop himself from doing so as he was worried that he would be in violation of his NDA.

Here’s how he replied when asked if he had any info regarding Hitman 5…

I have to plead the 5th Amendment on this one. I am under contract not to say anything. There have been delays. However, like I said earlier, if the artwork is anything to go by… brace yourself. In all the years of Hitman, I have been overwhelmingly gratified and humbled by the sheer dedication to the Hitman franchise that the fans have expressed. 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 under to deliver. I am utterly convinced they will!

Now, Bateson said the above at the beginning of October and back then when the quote first hit the net I was convinced that his “slip” would actually be a prelude to an official announcement from Eidos but unfortunately, as of right now, developers IO Interactive and publisher Eidos have kept their mouths shut.

But have they?

Now, this one is stretching things a bit but there might have been some news regarding Hitman 5 released about two weeks ago hidden in a job posting. On the 15th of October, Stephane D’Astous, the general manager of Eidos Montreal tweeted job openings for an unnamed triple A project which many people in the industry think was for Hitman 5. Here’s the tweet…

“Eidos-Montreal is actively seeking NETWORK, AI, GAMEPLAY and LEAD PROGRAMMERS for an exciting new project,”

Now, if the above tweet is referring to Hitman 5 then that would mean the next Hitman game is surely at least two years away if they are only now crewing up. And when you think about what Bateson said when he was talking to The Gaming Liberty, in particular…”if the artwork is anything to go by… brace yourself” then it looks like D’Astous was indeed tweeting for talent to work on Hitman 5. My reasoning is thus; Bateson only talked about the artwork. If he had seen the game running then his tongue was loose enough that he would have let it slip, as it is he got excited by the artwork which suggests a game in the early stages of development.

Unfortunately it looks like it is going to be a while until we see the back of Agent 47’s head again. I wish my conclusions could be more positive but from what little info there is out there, a two year wait for Hitman 5 is the most optimistic guess I can offer.

Oh, and before I leave you all, here’s some more from David Bateson’s interview with The Gaming Liberty which kind of backs up my prediction…

“It seems that with company buy outs and global power shifts in the world of computer gaming and the Hitman franchise, there is now an LA-based caster on board, who is responsible for voice casting, and I had to audition along with the rest of the planet for the right to play Agent 47. However, I have been informed by IO Interactive that I still have the part. I won’t even bother to describe how gutted I would have been if they went for a sound-a-like.”

Photo courtesy of kotaku.com

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