Hitman’s last trilogy, the World of Assassination series, provides what we consider some of the finest stealth-action gameplay that someone can get into, offering what is, without a doubt, one of the most intricate sandbox environments in all of gaming.
That’s quite the hyperbole for one series, though, isn’t it? But you see, for our money, such a statement is well deserving of a franchise that has given birth to one of the greatest memes in gaming, a bug that even the developers could never forget even by the trilogy’s end.
The Homing Briefcase Was One of the Hitman Series’ Greatest Gifts to Mankind
Before we get into the meat of things, let us refresh our memories and take a trip down memory lane. So, you might remember the “homing briefcase” meme that went wild back in the Hitman 2 days due to its unintended hilarity.
Due to a minor bug tied to the PC version’s frame rates, a thrown briefcase would continue to move at an unbelievably slow pace but with a relentless trajectory, curving mid-air just to ensure it slowly reached its victim.
As one might expect, people absolutely loved the absurd bug, mostly due to how easily it aligns with the rest of the insane stuff you get to do in these games. But of course, IO Interactive had to reluctantly remove the bug from the game, though big props to them for allowing players to enjoy the “feature” for a while, at the very least.
Looking back on it, and when asked whether Hitman 3 will contain such instances of unintentional, dumb fun back in 2021, Travis Barbour, one of IO Interactive’s ex-managers, explained the team’s approach to such things in an interview:
“The whole thing with the briefcase—it was a bug! It wasn’t supposed to be that way. Nobody put it in there, it was some quirk tied to the frame rate of your PC or something. But then we saw it and were like, you know what, just keep it there…That was fun. That’s what I like about IO; it’s one of those IO moments where we embraced it, ran with it, and made something fresh out of it.”
Thankfully for all of us, the team also decided to immortalize the gag with the “MK II Briefcase” back in 2019. Although not as fun as the old bug, it still lets you chuck a whole briefcase at hostiles as it follows them menacingly.
More importantly, three years later, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s somewhat remarkable how well Travis’ words captured IOI’s ability to embrace the insane side of its game, the one thing that made it stand out from its tonally serious contemporaries.
Plus, there is most certainly a discussion to be made about what exact aspects of IOI’s philosophy we see within the Hitman games we can expect more of in the future.
How Will IO Interactive Continue to Evolve as a Studio in the Future?
Digging a little deeper into the studio’s ability to turn a mishap into a feature, you get the feeling that experimentation and other elements that encourage creativity are what these guys are all about.
From disguises that make even the wildest infiltrations plausible to elaborate kill setups to just chucking a banana at a witness on the spur of the moment, these games have always rewarded players for thinking outside the box.
Aside from the game design being grounded in creativity, storytelling has also been integral to the success of the WoA trilogy—a feat achieved through meticulous writing and world-building.
Silly characters and moments you encounter during the missions are fantastic, but sometimes, it’s those interconnected storylines with layered and complex character arcs throughout the trilogy that hook us into going for “just one more mission,” after all.
With how easily you can trace the path of IOI’s evolution as a game development studio through the trilogy, there’s little doubt that we’ll see the culmination of all that accumulated knowledge in that 2026 James Bond title or perhaps the other online fantasy title that they’re working on.
But with all that said, what do you think about IO Interactive’s ability to blend fun with sophisticated design? Can their storytelling talents make the upcoming James Bond game one for the ages? Let us know in the comments below!
