Hakan Abrak: IO Interactive's Glacier engine pipeline cuts AAA costs by half
Summary
IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak claims 007 First Light, the studio's most expensive project, costs half typical AAA benchmarks.
The Hitman trilogy proved the model: each sequel shipped at lower cost through systematic asset and engine reuse.
IO now runs three AAA-tier IP tracks simultaneously, a throughput level the cost model directly enables.
"These games can be done for half of what you hear about out there"
01
Abrak rejects launch-window economics for long-tail community value
Each Hitman sequel cost less than the prior entry through deliberate asset and technology reuse.
Abrak positions this as philosophy, not austerity.
"It's about bang for the buck. It's about who is your team? What are you producing? What is your basis?"
He explicitly rejects the "recoup in three months or you're doomed" industry framing.
IO builds around sustained community revenue, not launch-window spikes.
02
Glacier engine absorbs genre-switching costs on 007 First Light
007 First Light required entirely new core loops and systems versus Hitman.
"Bond is a very different game to Hitman, and building that core loop, and that core platform foundation, with whole new systems... that is very, very hard"
Even so, Abrak claims the project stays within his "half of industry norms" framework.
The engine and talent base transfer across genres, not just sequels.
03
Three concurrent IP tracks stress-test the cost model's scalability
007 First Light launches May 27 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC; Switch 2 in late summer.
Project Fantasy is confirmed still financed and "very far" into development as an online fantasy RPG.
"It is in a very healthy place, it's still financed, and it's amazing"
Hitman is next in queue after Bond ships; Abrak pledges to "upgrade, invent and innovate."
Hitman World of Assassination continues generating revenue through live updates including celebrity missions.
Running three AAA tracks concurrently is operationally implausible under standard budget structures.
04
MindsEye failure exposes the limits of exporting IO's discipline externally
IOI Partners ended its distribution deal with Build A Rocket Boy's MindsEye in March 2025 after a critically and commercially disastrous launch.
Abrak's diagnosis: a distribution-only deal lacked production and creative oversight.
"If we are to do this in the future, we might want to be more involved in the production gates, or creative processes. But if you want to be part of that process, that obviously means a deeper commitment financially"
Any future external deal would resemble a publisher arrangement, not a distribution one.
IOI Partners remains active but IO's priority is self-published original IP.
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