On January 26th this year, IO Interactive’s “Hitman” franchise is undergoing a rebranding to simplify the rather complicated mess that has become purchasing any titles or levels for the 2016 reboot trilogy.
On that date, “Hitman 3” will be retitled “Hitman: World of Assassination” whilst the stand-alone versions of “Hitman” and “Hitman 2” will no longer be purchasable but will remain downloadable for existing owners.
Those who already own “Hitman 3” will get a free update that will see all the maps from 2016’s “Hitman” and the maps from the base version of “Hitman 2” incorporated into the game. Thus everyone can play the entire trilogy from within one game.
Any remaining DLC content for the second and third game will be available for purchase as the “Hitman: World of Assassination” deluxe pack DLC if it wasn’t already pre-owned.
The move streamlines the franchise under one roof, turning a trilogy of games of differing code quality and a rat’s nest of confusingly branded DLC packs into a single title with a single optional DLC pack.
As the developer describes it: “For many players, it will mean free content to enjoy. For others, it will mean significantly cheaper DLC prices. For new players, who probably aren’t reading this, they’ll have a much better experience buying Hitman games.”
The move comes on the same day IO Interactive will launch ‘Freelancer’ mode for the game – a new single-player mode that introduces rogue-like elements, strategic planning, and a customizable safehouse.
Source: IO Interactive
