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Io-Interactive A/S (commonly abbreviated to IOI, on releases covered as and commony referred to as IO Interactive) is a Danish development studio owned by Square Enix Europe, a subsidiary of Square Enix.〔(Io-Interactive: Company Info )〕 The company was founded in September 1998 by the Reto-Moto development group.〔(Reto-Moto Official site )〕〔(IGN company info for Reto-Moto )〕 To date, their most popular franchise is the ''Hitman'' series. This team is also known for their references (also known as an ''Easter egg'') to their own games, such as Agent 47 advertising designer clothes in ''Freedom Fighters''〔(Agent 47 easter egg in Freedom Fighters )〕 or ''Hitman: Absolution'' featuring Kane & Lynch.〔(Hitman: Absolution easter egg )〕 ==History== Io-Interactive was founded in September 1998 in Copenhagen, Denmark.〔 Initially an independent company, they developed their debut title, ''Hitman: Codename 47'', released in 2000. The game was published through Eidos Interactive,〔(Publisher of Hitman: Codename 47 )〕 and, upon release, received generally positive critical reception, being praised for its wide range of weapons, the smart AI and the realism, while being criticized for its lackluster camera, length and not living up to expectations. The game currently has a score of 73/100 on review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews".〔(Metacritic for Hitman: Codename 47 )〕 They followed this up in 2002 with ''Hitman 2: Silent Assassin'', which received positive reviews. IGN said, "It's a phenomenal game in its own right, and one that's sure to have broad appeal, particularly among those gamers who like to put a little more thought into their carnage."〔(IGN review of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin )〕 The game, on PC, currently holds a Metacritic average of 87/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews", and a GameRankings score of 84.88% on PC.〔(Metacritic for Hitman 2: Silent Assassin )〕〔(GameRankings for Hitman 2: Silent Assassin PC )〕 This game was again published by Eidos Interactive.〔(Publisher of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin )〕 They then followed this up with the 2003 video game ''Freedom Fighters'', a tactical shooter, published through Electronic Arts.〔(Publisher of Freedom Fighters )〕''Freedom Fighters'' received positive reviews across the board, as represented by their Metacritic scores, 81/100 for PS2,〔(Metacritic for Freedom Fighters PS2 )〕 82/100 for Xbox,〔(Metacritic for Freedom Fighters Xbox )〕 83/100 for GameCube〔(Metacritic for Freedom Fighters GameCube )〕 and 80/100 for PC.〔(Metacritic for Freedom Fighters PC )〕 Shortly afterwards, they were purchased by Eidos Interactive, ending their six years of independence.〔(Eidos Interactive acquisition of Io-Interactive )〕 Around the same time, they released ''Hitman: Contracts'', which was met with mixed reviews. The PS2 and Xbox versions of the game were generally positive, 80/100 for PS2〔(Metacritic for Hitman: Contracts PS2 )〕 and 78/100 for Xbox〔(Metacritic for Hitman: Contracts Xbox )〕 respectively on Metacritic, the PC version has a 74/100, indicating mixed or average reviews.〔(Metacritic for Hitman: Contracts PC )〕 ''Hitman: Blood Money'' followed in 2006 and marked the fourth game in the ''Hitman'' series. It became one of their most well-received games to date, and sold the most units out of any other entry to the series up to that point. This would be the last installment in the series for another six years, before the release of ''Hitman: Absolution'' in November 2012. The developers took a six-year hiatus from the development of ''Hitman'', their most popular franchise. Their next game was ''Kane & Lynch: Dead Men'', which followed the ventures of criminals Kane and Lynch as they attempted to pull off a heist. ''Kane & Lynch: Dead Men'' wasn't popular upon release with critics, being criticized for its length and lack of originality. The next venture by the developer was ''Mini Ninjas'', which departed from Io-Interactive's usual violent, adult games. ''Mini Ninjas'' received generally mixed reception upon release. In 2009, they were made to work under Square Enix following their acquisition of their parent company, Eidos Interactive.〔(Square Enix takeover of Eidos Interactive )〕 Their next game was the second installment of the ''Kane & Lynch'' series, entitled ''Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days''. This game received generally mixed reviews, being criticized for its extremely short length and lack of any real innovation. They then made the next installment in the ''Hitman ''series, ''Hitman: Absolution'', which was described as having been made more accessible for wider audiences.〔(Hitman: Absolution to be made more accessible )〕 The game received a polarized reception upon its November 2012 release. In 2013, their parent company Square Enix ran into financial difficulties, and they had large numbers of employees cut to save money.〔(Io-Interactive redundancies )〕 In addition to this, it was confirmed that Io-Interactive would be working solely on ''Hitman'' and would no longer be developing any more additions to the ''Kane & Lynch'', ''Mini Ninjas'', or ''Freedom Fighters'' series.〔(Io-Interactive to focus only on Hitman franchise )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「IO Interactive」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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