I donāt expect a new Hitman until a new formula is conceptualized, and new technologies are created.
The current formula has been pretty much fully explored.
Even some of the firstly flawed realisations of level concepts have been retried, polished. (Like Marrakesh/Chongqing, for the dual dwellers with separate social hierarchies and fortresses, linked by a city and some secret passage).
And thatās without going into the other minutia like optional objective (Sapienza Virus, to the Bank, Dartmoor, Chongqing, and Ambrose).
Same for the rest of the level design.
They expanded in Freelancer, especially by forgoing the insular, no follow-up or consequences between the levels core design. With intra-campaign consequences, and build-up.
And even then, some of it seems jurry-rigged, and limited by the technology available.
Hell, I even think that some of the teams were genuinely tired by the formula by the end of the game, or at least uncomfortably constrained.
So letās give some restorative sleep to 47, and Hitman. Letās not even think about a next game for a few years, just to be sure to have a fresh new take.
(or if the core-concept of 40 minute session highly replayable but independent and all equal with the same core gameplay levels is kept, at least letās have a few years passed for both out sake, and the devs sake. Let them have car chases and other set pieces in 007, it will be fun)
Thatās years of conceptualization, prototyping. testing, and proofing. Limited amount could be done in the current game (7DS, Freelancer), or maybe in Project 007. But certainly not all of them. And certainly not if they are overhaul.
Which I think will (and should) be the priority for a new game.
Iām talking starting back from the foundation up kind of work.
Project 007 and Project Fantasy are different beasts. They will both take their time and attention, and maybe with not that many ways to directly, and quickly, feed back to a potential new Hitman.
But I donāt think they are seen that way. It would be wise to have it on the back of the head, but wiser to not really think about it, and keep a clear focus on the other game (hopefully other franchise)
Because IOI needs, and wants, to be more than just Hitman.
But if you want some unfounded rumours: I think the next Hitman will have the kind of AI that would allow for the potential of a prison level.
(source: made it up, but itās what I would expect, it seems to be a frustrating hard limit of the current technology, and might be one of the āevidentā threshold to aim for to surpass)
(Also if we donāt have both 47 and Victoria as player characters, to have parallel dual social stealth design, I will riot.)