Hitman 3 has been out for nearly a year now and it looks like IO Interactive is ready to unveil the next step for future content. The studio gave a brief outline for the 2022 roadmap, or as they’re calling it Year 2, and they revealed that the game will have new maps, new modes, and even accessibility for VR on PC. They also announced that as a whole, all three Hitman title in the World of Assassination Trilogy has now amassed around 50 million players world wide. In addition, according to CEO Hakan Abrak, Hitman 3 is now the most successful entry in the entire franchise.
Keep in mind that the trilogy include the previous two entries, Hitman and Hitman 2 which launched in 2016 and 2018 respectively. Therefore, from 2016 all the way to 2021, all three titles have seen a massive uptick in player productivity, especially with Hitman 3’s launch earlier this year. Abrak did not elaborate on the total statistics for this player number, but considering the growing popularity of the franchise since it was rebooted, it’s not too hard to imagine such a growth taking place over that period of time.
As for the Year 2 content, IO explained in their post that the new maps and a “major update to the game” will come at a later time. They did tease a new mode however, Elusive Target Arcade, which is apparently going to be a permeant addition to Hitman 3 as opposed to the seasonal Elusive Targets that are added as timed content. However, the two biggest aspects that are being added in Year two is easily ray tracing and VR for PC.
The company was planning on adding ray tracing sometime this year, but it looks like that date has changed to sometime in 2022. It’s important to note that the studio is bringing this feature through a special partnerhsip with Intel, the software company that works specifically with PC’s. This doesn’t necessarily rule out ray tracing for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/Series S, but it’s more than likely that the PC platform will be seeing this first. As for VR, the studio states that they are planning on bringing it to PC in January, 2022, with more information to come at a later time.
Speaking of January, it will be a special moment for those who have been waiting to play Hitman 3 on PC, through Steam that is. The game has been availabe for the platform on the Epic Game Store, which is with the usual one-year timed exclusive. That time frame is fast approaching, and when it arrives, the game will finally be playable on the largest PC gaming library. This will more than likely result in an even bigger player base jump in which we expect that 50 million statistic to grow exponentially throughought the year. Either way, it’ll be an exciting time for Hitman 3 when 2022 rolls around, and let’s not forget about the James Bond title, or titles that IO Interactive is also working on. Hopefully we’ll hear more about that sooner than later.