Hmm, so maybe those cancellations of Hitman were warranted after all, as it seems that Square Enix has now announced that the game will be released as an episodic title. The first release date will be the original release date of march 11, 2016.
Io-Interactive today released further details for HITMAN™ which launches on March 11th for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Windows PC.
A change to the release structure, sees HITMAN become a truly episodic AAA game experience, with a major live component. Where players will perform contract hits on powerful, high-profile targets in exotic locations around the world.
Starting with a Prologue Mission and a Paris location on March 11th, followed by the next location, set in Italy releasing in April and then Morocco releasing in May. From there HITMAN will deliver regular monthly content updates, including three additional locations; Thailand, the US and Japan until the season concludes in Japan later in 2016. With weekly live events and additional planned content in between the monthly updates.
“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.”
A new Intro Pack now contains Prologue and Paris levels and will release at the new price of $15 (or local equivalent). Each subsequent location will be priced at $10 as an add-on item to the Intro Pack*. Alternatively, players can buy the Full Experience up front for $60. This includes all of this year’s content as it’s released, and guarantees them not to miss any live or bonus content.
The disc version of HITMAN will ship at the end of 2016.
PlayStation users will also gain access to The Sarajevo Six. 6 Bonus Contracts, one of which will be released with each location and sees Agent 47 travel the world in pursuit of six former members of a paramilitary unit called CICADA in this self-contained side-story exclusive for PlayStation 4 users.
For players wanting to get into the game early, the HITMAN beta starts on February 12th on PlayStation 4 and February 19th on PC. Players can guarantee access to the beta by pre-ordering the Full Experience or the new Intro Pack.
Well folks, what do you think about the recent and sudden change to the title? We’d love to know in the comments below.
