As the first quarter of 2021 comes to a close, one of the year's most critically acclaimed titles so far is Hitman 3, the latest in IO Interactive's long running stealth-action franchise and the end of its latest "World of Assassination" trilogy. This trilogy started with the 2016 episodic Hitman reboot and continued with 2018's Hitman 2, which launched as a full game. Shortly after the release of both games IO released starter packs, which included the first map of each games, playable entirely for free. Now, only two months after the release of Hitman 3, IO has announced Hitman 3's free starter pack, which is only available for a limited time.
The Hitman reboot trilogy started in 2016 with the release of "The Showstopper," the game's Paris map on March 11th 2016, and concluded with "Sitius Inversus," the game's Hokkaido map, on October 31st 2016. The game was criticized for its use of an episodic release structure, which the developers intended to give the game longevity and allow players to experiment with the game's maps. Shortly after Hitman's completion, Square Enix announced that it would no longer be publishing the series and transferring the IP to IO Interactive. This led to Warner Bros. Interactive publishing Hitman 2 in 2018, which shipped as a full game. Hitman 3 launched in January 2021 and was self-published by IO Interactive.
In a blog post, IO Interactive revealed that Hitman 3's Starter Pack, which will be available from March 30th to April 5th, will include the ICA Facility tutorial mission from the first entry in the rebooted series, as well as Hitman 2's opening mission set in New Zealand. The main focus of the Starter Pack will be Hitman 3's opening Dubai mission, which highlights the new features introduced in IO Interactive's newest entry including Dark Souls style shortcuts and a camera that can be used to activate electronic devices. All XP gained in the Starter Pack will also be transferred into the full games for those who choose to purchase it after playing the Dubai mission.
IO also revealed in the blog post that it plans to release more free content for Hitman 3 throughout 2021, and that any of the content that it releases will also be free to Hitman 3 players. This could include the developer releasing maps for previous Hitman titles being accessible to Hitman 3 players who do not own the Hitman or Hitman 2 Legacy Packs. Players of the Starter Pack can also transfer their progress from Hitman and Hitman 2 to Hitman 3 using IO's progression carryover website. Owners of Hitman and Hitman 2 can also redeem the Legacy Packs for Hitman 3 and access that content within Hitman 3 while the Hitman 3 Starter Pack is available. PlayStation 4 players can also access both old and new levels in VR through PlayStation VR.
Hitman 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.