Hitman is a stealth video game series developed by the Danish developer IO Interactive, previously published by Eidos Interactive and Square Enix. IO Interactive remained a subsidiary of Square Enix until 2017, when Square Enix started seeking buyers for the studio, IO Interactive completed a management buyout, regaining their independent status and retaining the rights for Hitman, in June 2017.[1] The games available for Microsoft Windows and multiple consoles consoles, including the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Google Stadia. The franchise also includes two novels and a graphic novel: Hitman: Enemy Within written by William C. Dietz, Hitman: Damnation written by Raymond Benson, and the prequel Agent 47: Birth Of A Hitman.[2][3] Two films loosely based on the video game series were also made: Hitman in 2007, and Hitman: Agent 47 in 2015, both of which received mostly negative reviews.

The games revolve around Agent 47, a clone created to be the perfect assassin, apparently lacking any human emotions whatsoever. Enlisted as a contract killer by the fictional International Contract Agency, 47 is sent to various locations across the globe to kill targets in a silent fashion. His flawless record places him in high demand among the wealthy and elite. Each game presents their own story line that, for the most part, are not interconnected, but nonetheless occur in the same continuity.

The series began with 2000s Hitman: Codename 47, which was written by Morten Iversen. It continued with Hitman 2: Silent Assassin in 2002, Hitman: Contracts in 2004, and Hitman: Blood Money in 2006, also written by Iversen. A fifth installment, Hitman: Absolution, was released on 20 November 2012, followed by a spin-off, Hitman: Sniper Challenge, released for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Two other spin-offs, Hitman Go and Hitman: Sniper, were released for mobile devices in 2014 and 2015, respectively.[4] The sixth main game, titled simply Hitman, was released episodically, from March to December 2016.[5] A sequel, Hitman 2, was released in November 2018,[6] and an eighth game, Hitman 3, is set to be released in January 2021; these three games are collectively referred to as the World of Assassination trilogy.