Io-Interactive and Square Enix have announced today that their upcoming new Hitman game, previously set for release December 8, has been delayed until March 2016. The wrote the following in a statement on their official site:
“It’s safe to say HITMAN is the biggest venture we’ve ever undertaken at Io-Interactive. Not just in terms of scope and ambition but also in terms of the size of the game world itself. The playable area and density of our locations goes beyond anything we’ve built before. We’re striving to create a series of living, breathing worlds in those locations and we get pretty obsessed about every detail that you’ll experience.’
“On top of that, we’re going for a new release model where we put out a good chunk of the game when it begins and then release the remaining locations over time. We want to make absolutely sure you all get the best possible experience when you join, so we’ve made the difficult decision to move the initial release date to March 2016. These few extra months will mean we can add more to the launch content of the game, more than we had originally planned, and then follow with a tighter frequency of updates, which ultimately will create a better game for everyone. And in the end, that’s what we’re all looking for.’
“To give you a sense of the scale when it comes to our various locations, we’ve compared our Paris Showstopper mission to the largest level in Hitman: Absolution. As you can see, lots of challenges, plenty of space to set up death traps, and a huge supply of targets for Contracts mode.’
“Moving a launch date is never an easy decision, we know it’s frustrating to have to wait a bit longer for the game, but we truly believe it will mean we can deliver a better launch and overall experience. We’ll share more details next week about the full release schedule and scope of HITMAN in general so keep a look out for that.”
Hitman is Io-Interactive’s newest chapter in the acclaimed blockbuster series of creative stealth action games. Enter a live and ever-expanding world of assassination, a digital experience that will continue to grow, deepen and evolve over time, where players perform contract hits on powerful, high profile targets in exotic locations around the world. From the highly fashionable Paris and sunny coast of Italy to the dust and hustle of the markets of Marrakesh and beyond, you have complete freedom of approach – where to go, when to strike and who to kill… is all up to you.
The sixth game in the core franchise, Io-Interactive has previously said not to think of the game as a reboot but as a pure “Hitman” experience and the foundation for future Hitman games. As an operative of the International Contract Agency, Agent 47’s job is to take out high-profile targets all over the world, supported by his long-time handler Diana Burnwood. Each location in the game is a living sandbox, a place where every NPC has a name and every room matters. Creativity from players is fully expected, you have the power and intelligence of Agent 47 at your fingertips and it is your choice whether to use brute force or orchestrate a genuine masterpiece of assassination.
Hitman will debut for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC at launch. You can pre-order your own copy by clicking here
