IO Interactive is very aware of the pressure placed on them to make Hitman a true successor to one of histories best open-world tactical shooters. That and they know the blunders of modern game development all too well, and hope to avoid them. They took to E3 to explain how they're going to address those concerns.
IO Interactive explained that DLC won't cost extra, and they're committed to a polished and finished game.
During E3, IO Interactive sat down and helped explain the direction they're taking in regards to how they'll handle DLC, allaying most peoples fears that you'll need to pay extra to find a complete game package. Instead, they want to have episodes within a story arc released periodically until 2016, though nothing will cost extra. $60 gets you the entire game, no if's and's or but(t)'s.
"We think the word 'episodic' sets up the expectation that we will sell individual content drops for individual prices but that’s not something we're planning to do. That $60 includes everything we create in this story arc; from what we release on December 8 through to the end of the story arc in 2016 and all the live events too. There’s no microtransactions or hidden costs in there. No extra paid DLC on top either. It’s one package, all-in for $60. We want that to be simple and clear and it was important for us to be up-front about that."
Also on the table were questions about the quality of Hitman when it releases and whether or not it would enter any kind of Early Access program on Steam. Sometimes allowing access to an incomplete game, even with appropriate disclaimers, can have a negative effect on the perception of a game. Asteroids: Outpost is clearly an alpha, yet people complain about it not being complete. To prevent that, no early access will be provided.
"Early access can often mean something unfinished or unpolished. That’s simply not the approach we’re taking. All of the content we release live to our players will be complete and polished,. It will always be a polished Hitman experience."
Hitman is not exclusive to the PS4 and will be released on the Xbox One and PC as well, though there will be quite a few fantastic PS4 exclusive pre-order bonuses that add real value to the game. You’ll get access to a beta test, and six exclusive contracts available only to those that pre-order for the PS4. Amazon lists Hitman with a release date of December 8th, 2015, though that might just be a placeholder as is common. Pre-order for any platform at your favorite retailer for $59.99.
