A Hitman co-op mode is in development, featuring two familiar faces from Agent 47's past

Agent 47 works alone. But what if he didn't? Well, sorry, he does. But what if other characters from the world of Hitman didn't have such a hard-and-fast rule about it, but in fact were happy to team up to get things done? In that case, you would have co-op Hitman, and someday in the hopefully not-too-distant future you will have co-op Hitman, because IO Interactive revealed during the IOI Showcase that an all-new Hitman: World of Assassination co-op mode is in development .

"We want you to team up with a friend and enjoy Hitman in co-op," IO Interactive chief creative officer Christian Elverdam said during the IOI presentation. "So two new playable characters, Stone and Knight, return from their appearance in our sniper co-op mode to a full-blown Hitman co-op experience.

"We invite you to play a set of exciting missions across our World of Assassination [and] challenge you to re-think your approach now that you're going to play as a duo."

A quick pop over to the Hitman fan wiki informs us that Stone and Knight are both playable characters in the Hitman 2: Sniper Assassin game mode, as well as the Hitman Sniper: The Shadows mobile game. They work together in both games, so they're a natural fit to bring over to a full-on Hitman co-op mode.

There are no details on how the mode will work at this point, nor is there a teaser or anything I can share with you. But a few seconds of gameplay visible while Elverdam is talking reveals picture-in-picture action: One character in the foreground, the other in a smaller window in the bottom left.

Both characters have also traded in their sniper rifles for silence pistols, and have the option of disguising themselves, indicating that this will be "real" Hitman work and not just a noodle-popping contest.

No hint was given as to when Hitman's co-op mode will be available, but it sounds like a wait is in store. Elverdamn said "it's still early days," and added that more news about the new mode will be shared "soon."