Hitman 3 releases tomorrow. Undoubtedly, it’s the first big game of 2021. With huge levels that have historically carried over to the next entry, it promises an ultimate sandbox. Last week, the reveal for how both cross progression and carrying over of levels from Hitman 2 to 3 was revealed. Both developer IO Interactive and Epic, the only PC storefront the game will be on at launch, got into some hot water with these plans.
You see, it’s messy. Hitman 2 as a standalone game isn’t currently available on the Epic Games Store. What Epic and IO have asked of players wanting the sequel’s levels in the third game for PC is to essentially re-purchase the game via a DLC access pass.
Really, this didn’t mirror the experience for console players. If you’re on Xbox or PlayStation and own any of the prior two entries, you can carry over those levels and progress into Hitman 3 – free of charge and seamlessly. IO saw the flack for the PC version not matching this standard and responded, saying “We’ve done everything possible to make this process smooth and player-friendly. However, due to various circumstances out of our control, we want to acknowledge that the process is different to our initial plans for PC players.”
Then, this saw its own controversy, and both Epic and IO both responded this time. IO Interactive tweeted that they are working on a solution. Epic also replied in the following way:
We never want players to feel forced to repurchase content on the Epic Game Store that they bought on another PC store so they can access features in a new game.
We are working closely with IO Interactive and you will be able to access past content from earlier HITMAN games. https://t.co/1MAT1O0Nly
— Epic Games Store (@EpicGames) January 17, 2021
Now, some ill in the deal IO Interactive have with Epic Games is doing its best to be remedied. The Hitman 1 GOTY Access Pass will be free for all PC players who pre-purchase or purchase Hitman 3 within the first 10 days of release. They’ve also assured that players will in fact not need to repurchase Hitman 2 to access those levels in 3. However, what that looks like remains to be seen. We’ll keep you posted.
About the Author
Charlie Kelly
She/Her, They/Them
Charlie loves her video games as much as she loves dumb, charming JRPG protagonists: probably way too much. You can often catch her spending too much time being emotional over LGBT stories in games. She also thinks Yakuza 6 is the best one.
