Developer IO Interactive announced its newest Hitman 3 roadmap, revealing that the highly successful title is receiving another year of updates, maps, and new features such as ray tracing and its popular VR mode on PC. Hitman 3 recently wrapped up its 2021 post-launch content with its final expansion Act 7: Wrath (Season of Wrath) concluding Hitman 3's Seven Deadly Sins story arc. The seven-part DLC collection took place after the base game's story and introduced a year's worth of new cosmetics, items, elusive targets, contracts, bonus missions, and free seasonal content to extend the title's replayability.
The World of Assassination trilogy concluded with its third installment earlier this year, marking it the first title to be self-published by the veteran developers. Shortly after its initial release, IO Interactive revealed that Hitman 3 managed to become the biggest digital launch in the franchise’s history, selling 300% better than the previous entry in the series. These high sales came despite the controversial Epic Store exclusivity. Critics accompanied the celebration for Hitman 3 with impressively high scores and praising quotes, persuading IOI to create post-launch content following the games' several achievements. The studio's post-launch support extended the title's lifespan, and yet another year of additional content for long-time fans of the legendary assassin is imminent.
Hitman 3 is almost a year old but developer IO Interactive has more plans for Agent 47 and the game’s second year. In a short but disclosed update, the studio announced the third installment's Year 2 roadmap set to begin on January 20, 2022, that will feature new maps, storylines, modes, and the release of the long-awaited VR version of Hitman 3 along with ray tracing for PC users. CEO Hakan Abrak detailed the numerous new modes coming to the game, starting with Hitman 3's VR mode making its way to PC in January 2022 alongside Elusive Target Arcade. This brand-new mode will put a spin on the franchise's popular Elusive Targets that began in 2016, making it a permanent addition instead of limited-time events that offered timed unlockable exclusives. Beyond that, ray tracing is set to release later in 2022 and IO Interactive will reveal another major update regarding Hitman 3 and its roadmap in Spring, with new storylines, maps and modes lined up for 2022.
VR support for Hitman 3 and the rest of the World of Assassination Trilogy was revealed in 2020 and released exclusively on the PlayStation 4 upon the title's launch. It allows the trilogy to be played for the first time exclusively in first-person mode and gives players new creative opportunities for all styles of play in its rich sandbox levels. Hitman 3 is a timed exclusive on the Epic Game Store for 12 months, so it's possible that the upcoming PC VR version in January could make its way to SteamVR as one of its supported platforms.
While many believed that IOI would fully focus on its newest original James Bond game, the studio continues to support the franchise that brought it critical acclaim. It's unknown what exactly the developers are preparing behind the scenes for the latest installment of the globe-trotting assassination simulator, but players can expect another year of quality content to keep Agent 47 engaged.
Hitman 3 is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Google Stadia.
Source: IO Interactive, Hitman Series/Youtube