In the many years since Agent 47 made his debut as a cold calculating contract killer in the Hitman franchise, he has tallied quite the number of kills. With the use of disguises, subterfuge, strangling, sniping, and other means of accomplishing his missions and eliminating his targets, Agent 47 is known as one of the more cunning assassins in video game history.
Agent 47’s career spans over the course of 20 years across seven main games and a couple spin-offs. From 2000’s Hitman: Codename 47 to 2018’s Hitman 2, players have been able to take on the role of IO Interactive’s coldest persona. Since IO Interactive’s separation from Square Enix in 2017, the company has retained its independence as a developer and continued producing content for their most beloved series.
According to a recent Reddit post by u/iamtheguy55, Agent 47 has achieved a total of 348 kills (this number is a correction made in the comments section of the post). This is assuming, of course, players controlling him stick only to their primary targets and don’t go on a killing spree when they’re able. The total comes from his accumulated kills across the primary Hitman titles and from Silent Assassin playthroughs, meaning one focuses on the minimum number of kills possible when progressing through a Hitman game. Moreover, this number only reflects kills perpetrated by Agent 47 directly and does not include any eliminations he accrues by having other enemies kill his targets for him. The number does include some non-target kills, attributing those numbers to necessity, which is most prevalent in Hitman: Codename 47 since that game does not permit players to render people unconscious and has “several objectives [that] require non-target kills.” Check out the detailed chart below:
Focusing mostly on single-player gameplay, the Hitman franchise is one that has been a rollercoaster ride, with many ups and downs and a loyal fanbase. Recent titles have adopted an episodic format but maintain the subtle yet intricate gameplay at their core. Now that IO Interactive is no longer reliant on a publisher’s funding to make their games the way it wishes, it has more freedom to implement whatever mechanics, stories, and other content the developer deems appropriate for the franchise.
While some may argue the episodic format of recent Hitman games exists to milk as much money as possible from fans, it may also be a necessary shift for the company to remain profitable now it is independent. While it’s unfortunate gamers need to spend more money to play an episodic game all the way through, it’s also important game developers are profitable so they can continue producing the titles their fans love. Despite his incredibly high bodycount, Agent 47 has proven to be a popular character, and fans will assuredly only see his kill statistics increase in the next Hitman game.
Source: Reddit