Hitman delays operations until March 2016

Agent 47 has surveyed the December scene and decided he doesn’t fancy making the hit until later, in March 2016. Or, to be slightly less cryptic, IO Interactive have pushed Hitman’s launch back a few months.

In an ‘Important Release News’ update on their site, IO say that Hitman (this Hitman, not the series Hitman) is “the biggest venture we’ve ever undertaken.”

“On top of that”, they add “we’re going for a new release model where we put out a good chunk of the game when it begins and then release the remaining locations over time.” That’s referring to their (initial) decision to release a decent chuck of the title in December, followed up by additional (and free) locations/missions/contracts over time.

However, that initial date has now slipped.

“We want to make absolutely sure you all get the best possible experience when you join, so we’ve made the difficult decision to move the initial release date to March 2016,” they say.

According to the statement, this does mean that Hitman will launch with “more than we had originally planned”, and be followed up with a more frequent update schedule.

The piece wraps up with one of those level-size-comparison infographics, which suggests that the largest Hitman: Absolution level (Streets of Hope) is only one sixth of the size of new level ‘Paris Showstopper’ (the one shown in various videos to date). Click below for a large version.