IO Interactive's Hitman: Absolution isn't even a week old and now the concept art for Agent 47's next adventure has already surfaced.
Of course, this shouldn't be that surprising since we already know that Square Enix Montreal is developing their own take on the Hitman franchise.
In the images below (courtesy of NeoGAF), we get to see who we presume to be Agent 47 walking on the streets while it's raining at night. He seems to be donning his usual black gloves and silver-ballers, too.
If you don't find that particularly interesting, I don't blame you. But this next one seems to open up a lot more questions than answers. In the image, we see an unnamed person doing a diving front kick to someone while he's blowing the enemy's brains out. This unnamed person obviously isn't Agent 47, is wearing shades and a trenchcoat, looks old and has healthy crop of hair.
So, is this Agent 47's new friend? Maybe a new enemy or perhaps a new protagonist for the Hitman franchise? In the post we wrote last week, IO Interactive has stated that Square Enix Montreal is developing their own take on the Hitman franchise, which they relate to how Call of Duty is made by Treyarch and Infinity Ward but are both separate entities in their own right. Can this, perhaps, be what's happening to the Hitman franchise?
We can only speculate for now, sadly. Of course, given that this "Hitman 6" is only in its concept stages, I assume it's set for release on next-gen platforms; unless, y'know, Square Enix Montreal has been developing it side-by-side with IO Interactive for release next year. In which case, the comparison to Call of Duty is indeed warranted.
Are you liking the concept images shown so far or do you think Square Enix is making a mistake in having two developers creating Hitman games?