IO Interactive's episodic Hitman passes 7 million players

A year and a half following release, IO Interactive's episodic Hitman game has passed 7 million players.
That milestone comes just as IO Interactive released its first major content update for Hitman since the developer's June 2017 separation from owner Square Enix. 

This information itself comes courtesy of IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak, who published a short letter further detailing both that update and the developer's future plans for Hitman.

In that post, Abrak noted that 7 million players have picked up the latest Hitman game at some point since the start of its first season. All in all, six episodes were released for the game between March and October 2016. Additionally, the short prologue from the beginning of the game was released for free as a standalone demo in June 2017, just after IO Interactive agreed to a management buyout with Square Enix and went independent.

Though the agreement between IO Interactive and Square Enix allowed IO to retain the rights to the Hitman franchise, the developer itself had long been quiet about the future of both the series and the 2016 Hitman title until announcing a Hitman Game of the Year update last month. Following that release yesterday, Abrak now notes that the team is making progress on "the next Hitman game and beyond."