New ‘Hitman’ Game Will Be Episodic, Won’t Cost More Than $60

Hitman Agent 47 — Agent 47, in disguise, is shown in the trailer for the new "Hitman" game. comicbook.com

During this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, Square Enix unveiled a new “Hitman” game that will be coming to next-generation consoles this year. Simply titled “Hitman,” the game seems to be a reboot of the iconic and mysterious Agent 47, though Square Enix and developer IO Interactive have not yet made any official announcement regarding that notion.

What is known so far is that it will be an episodic game series, according to a report from GameSpot. While the details of Agent 47’s next big killing aren’t clear, the story will be told through a number of episodes that will be released digitally. Eventually, Square Enix will release a retail version of the game that will feature all the episodes.

The game also will get constant updates and additional downloadable content (DLC), all of which will be free, as reported by PC Gamer. Despite the constant updates, each episode will supposedly be “complete” when it arrives, with the content making the game bigger, rather than fixing additional faults -- though one can expect the occasional bug fix here and there.

IO boss Hannes Seifert has predicted that the new "Hitman" game will be more popular than both “Hitman: Absolution” and “Hitman: Blood Money,” once all the content and episodes have been released. Considering that both previous games were very successful, this is an interesting statement that fans of the “Hitman” franchise will be delighted to hear.

While episodic gaming is a new development for the “Hitman” series, it is a genre of gaming that Square Enix has seemingly embraced in recent years. Most recently, the company released “Life Is Strange,” which is also an episodic game that fans have enjoyed.

The first episode of “Hitman” will come out Dec. 8, with more content coming afterward, eventually leading to a retail disc release. IO Interactive has promised that players will spend only $60 for the game, which is the regular price for a next-gen game. It will be available for Sony's PlayStation 4, Microsoft's Xbox One and the PC.