Key Takeaways
- Conor McGregor will be removed from Hitman: World of Assassination.
- McGregor was found to have sexually assaulted Nikita Hand in a hotel room in 2018 by a civil court.
- McGregor’s temporary Elusive Target event was set to run until December 8, but IO is now shutting it down.
IO Interactive has announced that Conor McGregor will be removed from Hitman: World of Assassination following his recent court ruling.
“In light of the recent court ruling regarding Conor McGregor, IO Interactive has made the decision to cease its collaboration with the athlete, effective immediately,” the post begins. “We take this matter very seriously and cannot ignore its implications. Consequently, we will begin removing all content featuring Mr. McGregor from our storefronts starting today.”
Knocked Out
On Friday, an Irish high court jury found McGregor had assaulted and raped Nikita Hand in 2018. McGregor has been instructed to pay damages of €250,000 ($263,000) to Hand. As the case is a civil one, and not a criminal one, McGregor is not criminally liable and won’t face a conviction. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided not to pursue a criminal case in 2020 as it felt there was a low chance of earning a conviction. McGregor had expressed his desire to appeal the verdict on X but has since deleted the post.
McGregor appeared in Hitman: World of Assassination as the elusive target ‘The Disruptor’ in a temporary mission. The mission tasked Agent 47 with eliminating McGregor’s likeness. The mission originally appeared in July but was brought back earlier this month. The original intention was for the mission to run until December 8, but the court ruling has caused a change of plans for IO.
“Conor McGregor features in Hitman: World of Assassination as The Disruptor, a multi-millionaire MMA fighter with worldwide fame who started a feud with the CEO of a prominent tech company, putting a target on his back in the process,” reads the mission summary.
“The age of the Disruptor is here. I had a lot of fun creating the character and bringing him to life. I can’t wait for players to try and take him down. Agent 47 is in for the fight of his life,” McGregor (or his long-suffering PR team) said about the collaboration when it first launched in July.
