Hitman GOTY Edition and new mini-campaign coming 7 November

IO Interactive’s big scheduled Hitman announcement has turned out to be a GOTY version of the game, complete with myriad extras. Due on 7 November, Hitman GOTY will package up everything from Season One and add a new, four mission mini-campaign called ‘Patient Zero’. New outfits (including a familiar clown) and new escalation contracts are part of the release too.

To answer a question pretty much all existing owners of Season One will have immediately; an ‘upgrade’ to the GOTY Edition will cost $20 USD. If you don’t want to do that, you will still get a free update that adds certain aspects (like improved lighting) that I’ll outline further down this news piece.

Patient Zero will reuse four locations from Hitman Season One (Bangkok, Sapienza, Colorado and Hokkaido), but remix them in a manner similar to the game’s bonus episodes. Every level will be set during a new time of day, and have new music from the original composer. There will be “new gameplay opportunities, disguises, characters, challenges, gameplay mechanics, AI behaviour and HUD elements” on each one too. The broad connecting plot will see Agent 47 trying to prevent a global pandemic.

GOTY dress-up options will include the aforementioned Corky Clown costume (complete with sound-effect emitting bat). There’s also a black and charcoal ‘Raven Suit’ that’s paired with the ‘Sieger 300 Ghost’ sniper rifle. Finally, you’ll be able to opt for the Cowboy Suit and magnum pistol combo. Every one of these three new outfits will have a themed escalation contract to complete.

IO will also be re-activating the Elusive Target contracts, starting in November. This reboot won’t affect your previous record; if you’ve attempted an Elusive the first time around, your result will stand. But any you missed will come back around again.

Here’s a summary of what will be coming in a free November Hitman update, followed by a GOTY trailer. This will be IO’s first major release as a newly independent studio, after Square Enix surprisingly ended their previous business partnership.

– A redesigned UI with a new colour scheme and visual style
A fresh new look across the board and re-organised menus to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.

– New Contracts Mode features
‘Trending’ helps you find the most popular contracts, making sure you can easily find a new challenge. We’re also adding 10 ‘Conditions’ that will add huge depth to Contracts Mode, such as restricting disguise changes or requiring players to use a specific exit. Anyone who creates a contract will be able to toggle these conditions to set a more defined challenge for their contract.

– Major lighting improvements to all missions
New colour grading, readjusted HDR adaptation rules and re-designed skyboxes mean that our locations look more vivid, vibrant and lifelike.

– Commemorative Elusive Target Unlock
If you played any of the Elusive Targets we released during Season One, we’re giving you an in-game coin to commemorate your progress and thank you for your support.

– Xbox One X Enhancements
A whole host of enhancements are on the way for Xbox One X owners, including options for native 4K and a higher framerate. Specific details to come in a Xbox-specific blog post.

– Tobii Eye Tracking support for PC
Enhance your killer instincts with Dynamic Light Adaptation, Extended View and a new special feature added specifically for HITMAN. Find more details here.

– Various fixes and improvements
Full release notes will be published closer to 7 November. That should be enough time to start thinking about your default loadout for each location.