I love the Hitman franchise. I love that when a mission plays out right, it’s so clinical and methodical. There’s a real sense of strategy and planning to an assassination. Unfortunately, there seems to be no real sense of strategy or planning when it comes to the latest Hitman game’s development.
Since the new Hitman was announced, we’ve looked at it with furrowed brows. The game was originally meant to be a game sold at full price, with content being added over the course of a year. Players would get limited amounts of time to kill specific contracts, in a Hitman game that would function as a sort of living, breathing, transient digital world.
“Imagine a target appearing for every player in the world, for a limited time only… let’s say 48 hours,” IO interactive said at the time. “Where your one shot counts. And when that target is gone, it is gone forever. A shared experience where we imagine the HITMAN community will come together every time a new mission or new location appears. For $60 you’ll get full access to all of this content – everything we release as part of this story.”
It was meant to be released on December 8, with new content being added to the game over a long period.
“What we release on December 8th is not the full game. It’s a sizeable chunk of it. Throughout 2016 we’ll release more locations and missions until the story arc is done and finished. All of that content is included in the $60 price.”
But now, that’s changed. Again. The new Hitman will now be a full episodic game, with episodes released when they’re done, and a full retail version available at the end of the year.
“We decided to take the full leap and publish Hitman as a truly episodic game experience,” said Hannes Seifert, Head of Studio at Io-Interactive. “Part of that decision is for that little bit of extra time to ensure every location we release is at the quality level fitting for a Hitman game. But the main driving reason is that this will allow us to create a living game that will expand and evolve over time and establish a foundation for the future – this is the first game in a storyline which will continue and expand with future Hitman games.”
The first part will be out on March 11, and will cost $15. It’ll be an “intro pack,” featuring a Prologue and Paris levels. Subsequent packs will cost $10. There’ll also be a beta in the middle of next month.
This all seems very confused, and confusing to me – and it doesn’t really feel to me like IO knows what on earth it’s really doing. I hope that the confused messaging doesn’t hurt the game and its more open-ended approach – because ideally, I’d love to see a return to form for Agent 47.
Last Updated: January 15, 2016
Jonah Cash
January 15, 2016 at 07:35
Man saw this earlier and almost cried. We all knew that this was going to happen, because what the proposed first was pretty much episodic. They are now just charging for it like any other episodic game.
By end of 2016 I might buy the full game and just play it as it was probably meant to be played. Also hope it doesn’t tank as I loved the last Hitman game to bits!
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 15, 2016 at 07:39
Funnily enough Hitman games teach you to be patient and wait for the right moment. So I’ll be patient and wait for the full game to be out before buying it.
Loftus
January 15, 2016 at 08:43
Fear of missing out was also something i learned not to care about. Waiting to get a game with all the dlc at a better price is going to be my motto for this year
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 15, 2016 at 08:44
Me too. You can’t be a PC gamer AND have FOMO, doesn’t compute heh.
Loftus
January 15, 2016 at 09:07
Building a gaming library should take time and should be games that are worth it for you, not just because they are popular or critical acclaimed games.
oVg
January 15, 2016 at 09:28
tee hee hee
Hammersteyn
January 15, 2016 at 07:41
This is worse than the new movie…
Jan Prins
January 15, 2016 at 07:56
So Timothy Olyphaunt Olifant Whatever is still the best Hitman about?
Hammersteyn
January 15, 2016 at 08:11
It’s like choosing between a turd sandwich and a poo cocktail. But yes. Timothy wins.
Loftus
January 15, 2016 at 08:41
He is really good in Justified.
oVg
January 15, 2016 at 09:30
I needed to wash my eyes out after the last movie and watched the other Hitman film straight after. PAUSED it a few times in some areas 😉
Jan Prins
January 15, 2016 at 09:40
Eeeep!!!!!
oVg
January 15, 2016 at 09:27
Nothing is as bad as that. The last Hitman Game was 10X better than the last movie. GEEEEEZ what a KUK FILM.
The Hitman Film with that Bond Girl pissed all over the latest film. Why the fuck did they even make it?
Hammersteyn
January 15, 2016 at 09:40
Audi needed a new ad campaign?
oVg
January 15, 2016 at 09:44
Dont go there. I had to drink every time the Audi logo popped up. It was worse than Iron Man.
Hammersteyn
January 15, 2016 at 09:55
Hahahaha
Jan Prins
January 15, 2016 at 07:59
Sadly I am a Prins of too little brain to fully appreciate a Hitman game. Apparently “MURDER THEM ALL!!” doth not a good assassin make.
Though this gives me the idea that Hitman dev’s IO might be a bit strapped for cash.
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
January 15, 2016 at 08:11
Trevor Philips didn’t make a very good assassin…
Loftus
January 15, 2016 at 08:40
My question is when did Warner Bros took over the game? Seems like the sh!t they pull, my nipples are sore from last year milking!
BakedBagel
January 15, 2016 at 08:41
I am going to predict: At the end of this game there will be a new “chapter” every +- 2 months, with a total of about 69 different chapters at $10 each.
Your $60 purchase was for the full game and not DLC.
I can see another PayDay2 saga coming, where they milk their playerbase for as much cash as possible with spamming out DLC’s.
Ayy just a prediction bois
oVg
January 15, 2016 at 09:26
Of course it is, its Japanese. Square Enix can kiss my bum.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
January 15, 2016 at 11:53
lol episodic gaming is going to join microtransactions on the list of “Shitty things publishers do to screw over gamers”