Hitman developer IO Interactive has announced that it's moving into third-party publishing, and its inaugural project on this front is a game created by ex-Rockstar legend Leslie Benzies.
The studio will be publishing MindsEye, a "cinematic AAA story-driven action-adventure thriller" from Benzies' outfit Build a Rocket Boy. You might know that studio's name better from Everywhere, its flagship sandbox game creation toolkit.
This will serve as IO's first third-party publishing endeavor; up until now, the studio has mainly been known for its development efforts on the Hitman franchise, as well as on other games like Mini Ninjas, Kane & Lynch, and an upcoming James Bond game.
To publish MindsEye, IO Interactive has established a new label called IOI Partners, which it says will channel its "continuous drive to create innovative games" and "deliver impactful entertainment through creative, quality-focused collaborations".
It doesn't sound like IO will be publishing Everywhere; for now, MindsEye is the only collaboration between IO and Build a Rocket Boy, and it's also the only game IO is currently publishing that it isn't also developing.
Benzies describes MindsEye as his studio's "first AAA premium game and ever-evolving universe", praising IO's "strong understanding of community culture, premium action-adventure games, and...best-in-class publishing team".
On IO's part, CEO Hakan Abrak says his studio and Build a Rocket Boy are "like-minded" in that they both "aim to create a bond and a long-term relationship" with their communities, calling the publishing agreement "a significant milestone for IO Interactive".
As for what exactly MindsEye is, according to a press release, it's a "story-driven action-adventure thriller" that will feature "best-in-class cinematics, high-octane driving, and explosive combat".
You are Jacob Diaz, and you must unlock the secrets of your past across a "series of dangerous covert missions". In essence, it sort of sounds like what would happen if you took the open-world between-mission parts out of Grand Theft Auto, which feels somewhat appropriate for Benzies' Rockstar past.
MindsEye still doesn't have a release date, so we'll have to wait and see what kind of fruit this collaboration with IO Interactive bears.
