'Hitman: Definitive Edition' Reportedly Releasing Next Month

IO Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have announced that they have teamed up to bring “Hitman” back to retail stores. “Hitman: Definitive Edition” will reportedly be released on May 15 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles.

“We’re very excited to be working with IO Interactive, a talented studio with a long-standing legacy creating the iconic ‘Hitman’ games,” Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment President David Haddad said. “The passionate, global ‘Hitman’ community has embraced the recent return of the series, and we’re thrilled to bring the ‘Hitman: Definitive Edition’ to fans and new players next month.”

When Square Enix and IO Interactive parted ways back in May of last year, it prompted the latter to become an independent video game studio. IO Interactive was also able to keep ownership of the “Hitman” franchise and even continue providing additional content for the 2016 “Hitman” game. IO Interactive remains an independent studio with its new publication and distribution deal with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

“Hitman: Definitive Edition” will include the base game and all of the content that was made available in the title’s Game of the Year Edition. this includes the entire first season, the Summer Bonus Episode, the Blood Money Requiem Pack and all of the same Contracts. Pricing for the “Definitive Edition” has not yet been announced, according to Polygon.

“We’re super excited to be working with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on ‘Hitman’ and together releasing the ‘Hitman: Definitive Edition’ to new players,” IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak said. “Working with a partner like WBIE means that the team at IOI can stay focused on what we’re good at, making games.”

IO Interactive already confirmed last year that it’s already working on a new “Hitman” game. The studio didn’t give away much information about the upcoming new entry in the franchise, but it did say that it will share more information sometime this year. Abrak also said at the time that they were already “making great progress” on the new game and that it will have new features and “some franchise firsts."

With IO Interactive being an independent studio, it has full control on where the “Hitman” franchise could go. However, its independence also places the company in a much more vulnerable situation. With this new distribution agreement with Warner Bros., the studio could secure a sense of stability as it continues to work on a new “Hitman” game, as pointed out by Engadget.