Hitman Will Contain Only A Small Amount Of Content Upon Release

The latest iteration of Hitman will be released this December, but only a small portion of it at once. 

According to an interview with IO studio head Hannes Seifert with Videogamer, this doesn't mean the game is going to use a model similar to that of Steam's Early Access. 

Gamers will purchase a copy of Hitman on December 8 and receive content, while the rest will be added post-launch as well as throughout 2016. It'll be released in installments, it sounds like, for the same price you paid in the beginning. It sounds an awful lot like Early Access, especially if content is simply being added a later date, but it also sounds like what Telltale Games does with its games (if you don't purchase a Season Pass, anyway).

Seifert was quick to jump up with damage control for the title, which fans are understandably feeling a little frustrated with, since this is a bit of a strange situation, especially considering the landscape when it comes to video games these days. 

"When people hear Early Access they often think unfinished, unpolished and buggy. That’s the opposite [to what we’re doing]. There is nothing hidden away you could even spend extra money on. That is very important to us.”

This is a brand new model for the Hitman series, beyond its mobile departure as Hitman GO, so it's understandable that fans would be a little gun-shy of accepting it without first seeing the quality of the game that's being released at first. And most people just don't want to pull the trigger on a title that's going to be limited upon release, because there's absolutely no guarantee that extra content is coming. When you start paying for the promise of content, you begin entering a weird world where you have to question what's worth it to you when it comes to new game purchases and what isn't. 

On the other hand, it could be worth the wait to tweak the content that's planned for release, and that way fans can rest assured that more time is being spent on perfecting what's coming, especially since it's likely going to be a pricey package. Hitman is a very popular franchise with a wide variety of fans so it'll be interesting to see what the response is when the game releases later this year. 

In the meantime, you can go back and enjoy the previous games in the Hitman series with the Hitman Trilogy.