We’re doing things a bit differently, as you may have read in our 'Announcing HITMAN' blog post. HITMAN will launch on PS4, Xbox One and PC on December 8th this year as a digital download. That’s when the experience will begin. And it’s really important to us that this is understood as a ‘beginning’.
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.
We know that the specifics of exactly what is included on December 8th are very important to some of you. We’re finalizing those plans and look forward to sharing them with you. Stay tuned for more details on this.
Is HITMAN an ‘early access’ game?
No. Early access can often mean something unfinished or unpolished. That’s simply not the approach we’re taking. All of the content we release live to our players will be complete and polished, whether that’s the locations and missions we release on December 8th, the live events or the locations and missions that we will release in 2016. It will always be a polished Hitman experience.
Is HITMAN episodic now?
We think the word ‘episodic’ sets up the expectation that we will sell individual content drops for individual prices but that’s not something we're planning to do. That said, there are some episodic elements to the story in the sense that it’s delivered in chunks over time, so experiencing the story will probably feel episodic. But there is also a ton of other content including live events, which have nothing to do with the story. We’ll also be improving and changing the game constantly whilst you’re playing it. Our ambition is to have a stream of content available from December 8th until the story arc is finished.
The thing is, there isn’t really a term to describe what we’re doing. That’s why we’re calling it a ‘live’ experience because it feels like that’s what it is – something that lives, grows and evolves. This question was asked a lot at E3 and if anyone out there comes up with a brilliant term, please get in touch. Seriously.
What does it all cost? How much do I have to pay to experience everything?
The entire game will cost you $60 or the regional equivalent.
That $60 includes everything we create in this story arc; from what we release on December 8th through to the end of the story arc in 2016 and all the live events too. There’s no micro-transactions or hidden costs in there. No extra paid DLC on top either. It’s one package, all-in for $60. We want that to be simple and clear and it was important for us to be up-front about that.
Is HITMAN digital only?
No, we’re leading with digital, so it’s ‘digital first’. At some point in 2016, we’ll release the game on a disc.
Can I play HITMAN offline or do you have to be connected all the time?
You will be able to play the locations and missions offline. To play the live events, download updates or see things like leaderboards, you’ll need you to be online.
Those are the questions that we’ve seen the most discussion around. We’re sure there will be more as what we’re doing here is new. It's a great feeling for us to read all of the discussions around a game that we're so passionate about making. Keep that conversation going. We’re listening.
Next stop for us is Gamescom. We’ll see you there.
Obviously HITMAN is a fresh and bold step forward for the franchise but it has been a bit confusing so IO Interactive has cleared things up.