Hitman ends partnership with Conor McGregor

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Key recommendations

  • IO Interactive is dropping its partnership with Conor McGregor from Hitman: World of Assassination in light of the recent court ruling against the MMA fighter.
  • McGregor appeared as The Disruptor in one of Hitman: World of Assassination's Elusive Targets missions.
  • All new sales of Hitman: World of Assassination content featuring McGregor have ceased and related trailers have been made private.



Hitman Series developer IO Interactive has announced the immediate removal from sale of all content featuring MMA fighter Conor McGregor. This decision comes on the heels of a recent court ruling against McGregor, which appears in Hitman: World of Assassination as part of an Elusive Target mission.

Last week, McGregor lost a civil rape case at the High Court in Dublin, where a woman was awarded €248,000 (nearly $260,000) in damages after she accused him of sexual assault. While McGregor has denied the allegations and plans to appeal, the case has drawn much public attention to him. Many of McGregor's partnerships with brands and companies have also come under question, including his collaboration with IO Interactive for Hitman: World of Assassinationa collection of all three main lines Hitman games with bonus content.


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McGregor appears in Hitman: World of Assassination as The Disruptor, an elusive target introduced in the latest free starter pack on November 15, 2024. This mission tasked players with taking down McGregor's character, a multi-millionaire MMA fighter involved in the secret Ark Society. In addition to the free mission, IO sold a $5 DLC pack that includes permanent access to the Ostentatious arcade contract, a new outfit, and cosmetic items. This content was scheduled to remain available until December 8th, but has now been removed from sale.


IO Interactive erases all traces of Conor McGregor's association with Hitman: World of Assassination

On Twitter, IO Interactive issued a statement on November 25 to inform players of its decision to remove all Hitman: World of Assassination content regarding McGregor, citing the recent court ruling. The studio emphasized that it takes the issue very seriously and has made all trailers promoting McGregor content private. While new sales of McGregor-related content have been terminated, IO clarified this Hitman: World of Assassination players who already own the content would retain access to it indefinitely.


While McGregor, as well as many of his fans, continue to question the court's ruling and hope to overturn it on appeal, IO Interactive's position seems sensible to avoid undue controversy at this time. With IO Interactive currently working on a James Bond game that they hope to spin off a trilogy, the studio probably wants to keep their goodwill as long as possible. It remains to be seen if IO Interactive reverses course in its decision to remove McGregor's content Hitman: World of Assassination should the MMA fighter's appeal be accepted.

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