Denmark-based video game manufacturing studio IO Interactive has claimed that their Hitman series in 2016 was a huge critical and commercial success. The slow-release method used in the series was appreciated by the loyalists and the members of the development team. However, Hitman 2 will have the traditional approach of being released completely, all at once. This is because the decision was conceived long back and they wanted to cater to the fans and not to a trend that is in vogue.
GamesIndustry.biz released their interview of Sven Liebold of IO Interactive during PAX West 2018, where he told about their choice of Warner Bros as their publisher and the reason behind their narrowing down to this option. He spoke about how the gaming community meant more to them than the trend of making episodic releases according to the norms of making games service available to the loyalists.
The community means a lot to us, and I think it’s a very big step for the studio as well, because this essentially means that maybe there’s a Hitman 3, and a Hitman 4 as well. And this will all appear on the same timeline. Meaning that in a couple of years you may be able to play a game that goes to over 20 locations.
Not only do they wish to provide sequels to the popular game, but they want to create a niche for Hitman, a private world of its own, where all entries shall have a connection. The missions from Hitman are being expanded to Hitman 2. Thus it serves a balanced platter for those who want episodic release when it comes to the games they are playing and those who want all the show at once, according to Liebold. Those who already own the game will have the updates free of cost as DLC post the launch of the sequel.
Those who had been happy with Hitman were actually hooked on to the fact that while they played a level, there was not any rush. The locations could accommodate the players so that they could play again and then go around trying new things under the sun. The very idea that those gamers were not happy was taken into consideration by IO Interactive to make everyone happy.
