IO Interactive recently confirmed that the end of "a relationship with an external partner," now known to be Xbox Game Studios , meant that the studio would no longer have the funding it required to work on a game known as Project Fantasy with its current staff. On July 7, IO Interactive expanded on the round of layoffs it previously confirmed, announcing in a post on X that it would be closing its Istanbul studio and laying off an undisclosed number of staff. It stands to reason that the studio's Istanbul staff will all be affected by the layoffs, but it has not been confirmed whether layoffs will extend beyond that studio. The studio closure comes not two months after the launch of the highly successful 007 First Light, which managed to sell an astounding 1.5 million units in just 24 hours .

[Editor's note: TechPowerUp's in-depth Performance Review and Handheld Performance Review of 007 First Light are now live]

Additionally, IO Interactive confirmed in the post that its Project Fantasy is still in development and that it has "regained full ownership of the project," suggesting that it will have more creative freedom and financial responsibility for the game. The post reiterates that the company is dedicated to Project Fantasy, but there are questions about the future of the studio's other IPs, like Hitman and 007. Project Fantasy is being developed as an online fantasy RPG inspired by tabletop RPGs and built with multiplayer and co-op gameplay as a core component. The full statement by IO Interactive follows.