Io-Interactive announces today that Hakan Abrak has become the new Studio Head.

Formerly Studio Production Director, Hakan has taken over as Studio Head from the start of 2017. Hakan has been at IOI for more than 10 years, spearheading the latest HITMAN episodic release and is a proven and experienced leader and passionate gamer.

I am humbled and truly proud to take on the role of Studio Head at Io-Interactive. This is a studio I am fiercely passionate about, both in terms of who we are and what we do and I will now work resolutely to lead IOI forwards for our next exciting chapters.

I want to start by saying a huge thank you to my friend and mentor, Hannes Seifert. Hannes decided that the time was right for him to leave Square Enix for pastures new and move onto a project closer to his home in Austria, it’s been quite a long commute for 7 years..! Hannes has been an exemplary Studio Head and we wish him the very best for the future.

I started here at IOI as a Producer 10 years ago, moving through to my last position as Studio Production Director. I’ve seen the shift in the studio, how we’ve matured into who we are today and I like to believe I’ve been a central part of that change.

As a team we have taken bold steps with our beloved Hitman brand, introducing the first AAA episodic Hitman experience. We have released weekly content since our launch in March 2016 on top of keeping to the rhythm of each episode release. We have innovated with the introduction of Elusive Targets, our time-limited one-shot targets, which have created a genuine tension in gameplay which we had never before experienced in any game like this. And the result of all this as we rounded off 2016 and into 2017 was multiple Game of the Year awards and callouts for the incredible experience we have created with Hitman.

We have learnt to be more open to our community and players, to listen and learn and this is something we will get even better at as we move forwards. And above all, we have learnt not to fear change, but to embrace it.

As a studio, we have established a strong direction for Hitman and we will continue to innovate and push into the digital gaming space as we strive to build unique experiences in gaming.

Hakan