Diana's death is a catalyst for Agent 47's actions in Hitman: Absolution

Hitman: Absolution director Tore Blystad has said killing Agent 47's handler Diana Burnwood was a "really big," and "tough" decision for the team to make and it required a lot of going back and forth.

Speaking with OPM, Blystad said there were many strong emotions regarding the decision, but despite many at IO Interactive feeling "really sorry" that she had to die, the team needed a catalyst for Agent 47's actions in the game.

"To bring emotion to a character like 47 there needs [to be] something really devastating to kind of shake him up. It was a tough decision," said Blystad. "If you look at him, he’s always been told what to do, been more on other people’s missions [than his own]. So making this his game and about his decisions – enabling him to create the briefings on his own instead of having someone tell him what to do all the time – was the starting point, because then it would feel like the player was a bigger part of creating the story.

"And this emotional side is very closely attached to that. For him to have a reason to do something, there needs to be some sort of emotion behind it."

Game’s out worldwide on November 20 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.