This year has been a rocky one for developer Io Interactive. The studio best known for its Hitman series as well as the Kane and Lynch titles is dealing with its second series of layoffs in 2010. Kotaku has confirmed the layoffs with a rep for Io Interactive's owner Square Enix, stating, "I can confirm that we have made some internal changes at Io Interactive which has regrettably resulted in the loss of some jobs." Square Enix previously laid off team members at the studio last March.

Square Enix would not state how many people were let go at Io Interactive although a Twitter message from 3D Realms' George Broussard claims that 35 people were affected. Broussard also claims that an unnamed game project was canceled at the studio. However these developments are not expected to affect plans for Io Interactive to release a new game in the Hitman series.