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Hitman Is Now Coming At Two Different Price Points On March 11, 2016
Following the Hitman E3 announcement, Square Enix and IO Interactive faced significant confusion about just what players would be getting for their $60 purchase. Today, the publisher and studio are clearly detailing how and when you can play, as well as what you can expect in terms of content when it arrives on March 11, 2016.
The $60 all-in option is still on the table. That gets you all of the initial gameplay material and everything that comes down the line. However, because the game is being rolled out in stages, there will be an “intro pack” for $35.
The lower priced option gives you access to everything available on day one. This includes locations, live events, and contracts. In effect, there is no difference in what a $60 player gets and what a $35 player gets until there is more released.
An upgrade pack will be available for $30 that takes the “intro” version up to the full offering. That boils down to a $5 premium for playing the “wait and see” game.
At launch, there will be three locations: Paris, France; Sapienza, Italy; and Marrakesh, Morocco. These include six campaign missions, three sandbox locations, forty “signature kills,” contracts mode offering 800 targets, and weekly live events and hits.
Thailand, the United States, and Japan will be rolled out monthly from April through June. These will each include new missions, a new sandbox location, more signature kills, new contracts, and additional weekly events.
Those that pre-order the full-priced version will get guaranteed access to the PlayStation 4 and PC beta. For more on Hitman, check out our recent coverage and look at the gameplay.
[Source: IO Interactive]
Our Take
This essentially makes Hitman a $35 game with a $30 season pass, which might be far more appealing to people who aren’t sure about the release model. I understand why Square Enix wanted to front load player buy in (money now is worth more than money later), but this is going to make much more sense to players that are familiar with the season pass model.
It’s still an adaptation of how people are used to purchasing games, combining the episodic model with the season pass strategy. This way, people are more likely to give the game a try without worrying about not getting a full game for full price.
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