Hitman 3 gets a new name — and two free games with it

Hitman 3, the 2021 sequel to IO Interactive’s episodic reboot of the stealth-action franchise, will rebrand as Hitman World of Assassination. The change is not merely cosmetic; preceding games Hitman (2016) and Hitman 2 (2018) will become free to Hitman 3 owners as their content is absorbed into a single live-service game.

This means that both Hitman and Hitman 2 will be delisted from sale and no longer available as stand-alone titles. Players who own either will still be able to access and play them as they always have, IO said in a blog post on Tuesday.

“Essentially, these two changes will mean that all new players and existing Hitman 3 owners will have the same base content ownership,” IO said. “There will be no more confusion over which edition to buy, what content you own, how to redeem Legacy packs or import locations, etc. We’re done with that.”

Hitman World of Assassination (the former Hitman 3) is currently available for $20.99 during the Steam Winter Sale, so PC players can effectively get all three titles at a huge discount until Jan. 5. The Hitman 3 Deluxe Edition for PlayStation 4 and PS5 is $27.99 during the PlayStation Store’s Holiday Sale, ending Jan. 18. (The game’s standard edition is full price.)

Both editions of Hitman 3 are full price in the Xbox marketplace, possibly because Hitman Trilogy, encompassing all three titles, is included in the Xbox Game Pass library.

Hitman 3 still has a somewhat confusing spread of add-on content — for those who didn’t get the Deluxe Edition, that is. Hitman 3 has had three premium extensions: the Deluxe Pack, Seven Deadly Sins Collection, and H2 Expansion Access Pass. Going forward, all three of these will be offered individually for $10 each, to allow players to “complete the set” at an equivalent price.

“The changes have also been made with the Freelancer game mode in mind,” IO added, “where being able to easily access all locations from across the World of Assassination is paramount to maximizing your enjoyment.”

Hitman 3 launched in January of 2021. Those who pre-ordered the game, or bought it within the first 10 days, got access to all the levels of Hitman 2 within Hitman 3 (after some controversy with the PC version, though). The game launched on Google Stadia as Hitman World of Assassination, where it was basically the hub to enter both Hitman 2 and Hitman 3. Stadia, of course, is going out of service on Jan. 18.