EIDOS PLC ACQUIRES
IO INTERACTIVE STUDIO
Copyright 2004 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ March 4th 2004 ]
Eidos,
one of the world’s leading publishers and developers
of entertainment software, announces that it has
reached agreement to acquire IO Interactive, the
Danish based studio responsible for the hugely
successful Hitman franchise. The acquisition of
IO secures the future rights of the Hitman series
and significantly strengthens Eidos’ European
creative base and development resource. In addition,
the deal will facilitate the use of IO’s leading
edge technology platform across the Group, which
will play a key role in the development of next
generation titles. Hitman: Contracts, the third
instalment in the multi-million unit selling series,
will be released on April 30th for PlayStation
2, Xbox and PC.
Mike
McGarvey, CEO of Eidos, says: "We welcome the
IO team of outstanding, technically creative developers,
who we know share our vision and values. The relationship
and experience we have already shared over the
past five years gives us great confidence in their
ability not only to maintain the outstanding success
of Hitman, but also to develop new titles of unique
IP. In addition, their market leading technology
will be a key element in the Group’s transition
to next generation platforms."
Janos
Flösser, Managing Director of IO Interactive,
says: “Eidos is an ideal partner for IO with an
inspired and successful management team who share
a similar production and development ethos to
our own. We are delighted to take our existing
relationship to the next stage. We will look to
continue producing successful franchises, such
as Hitman, and help to define a winning technology
platform which has the potential to be more widely
used across the Eidos studios.”
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