If you own Hitman 3 there’s a good bit of news coming from Danish developer IO Interactive, the people behind the 2021 hit. This is because Hitman 3 owners will be getting the previous two games in the trilogy for free. That is, 2016’s Hitman and its sequel Hitman 2, which came out in 2018.
The thing is, if you already own either game (on Steam for instance), you could access its levels from within Hitman 3, giving players an epic experience spanning many locations from Paris to Berlin.
So it definitely makes sense for IO to rename Hitman 3 to Hitman: World of Assassination, something which will happen on January 26 according to the company’s website. The new game featuring all main content from Hitman 1, Hitman 2 and Hitman 3 will be priced at $70 US dollars for new players. It will also be the only option available too, as both Hitman 1 (the 2016 game) and Hitman 2 will be removed from storefronts altogether, although current owners of those games will still be able to access them and play them.
It would make sense, then, for those who were sitting on the fence about buying Hitman 3 to grab it at a discount in any ongoing sale (such as Steam’s) before the transition to Hitman: World of Assassination takes place on January 26 and the $70 US dollar price kicks in. Likewise, those more interested in the previous two games might as well pick them up on the cheap now before they are gone from sale later this month.
Aside from rolling all the trilogy games into one, there will only be one DLC pack available – the Hitman World of Assassination Deluxe Pack. This includes the Hitman 3 Deluxe Pack, Hitman 3 Seven Deadly Sins Collection and Hitman 2 Expansion Access Pass. Players missing one or two of these DLCs will only have to pay for the content they don’t own, and not the full $30 US dollar price tag. This applies to Steam – on other storefronts each of the three DLCs making up the Deluxe Pack will be available separately, each priced at $10 US dollars, letting people pick up any DLCs they’re missing to “complete the set”.
Developer IO is adamant that these changes are for the better. “We want the experience for new players to be straightforward and concrete. We believe the above changes will achieve that. However, for existing players, who cover a huge matrix of different ownership combinations, we’re being a little bit more flexible – but still with a strong approach for simplicity”, said the company on its website.
The “World of Assassination” rebranding also has to do with the upcoming Freelancer mode for the game, which relies on the trilogy’s 21 locations in order to maximize player enjoyment according to Danish developer IO.
But despite the fact that IO Interactive’s move might have more to do with being able to sell Hitman 3 at full price for longer than anything else, there’s no denying that the games that make up the World of Assassination trilogy are some of the best in the genre. They are definitely worth experiencing for anyone interested in the subtle mix of stealth and action that only the Hitman series can deliver. But now only one question begs answering: will IO be able to do the same with their upcoming James Bond game?