Hitman – Welcome to the Playground Celebrates Prologue Chapters Becoming Free on Xbox One, PS4, PC

Two Hitman missions made free as Io-Interactive obtain IP and declare independence from Square Enix.

Io-Interactive have announced that they have released the first area of Hitman (2016) for free after securing the IP from Square Enix.

Io-Interactive have be the exclusive developers of the long-running Hitman series, previously working closely with Eidos Interactive before the UK publisher was acquired by Square Enix. Recently Square Enix declared that they would be relinquishing the financial shares and control that they held over the Danish developer. As a reaction to this, behind closed doors, Io negotiated control of the IP as they drew an end to their partnership.

While the first two missions might seem like a weak offering when pitched like that, Hitman’s sandbox spirit actually means there’s an absolute mass of playtime to be had in the levels. This is better detailed by the following quantification from the developers:

“Anyone who downloads the game for free will have full access to everything included in the ‘ICA Facility’ location;
– 2 Story missions, including all cut-scenes
– 2 Escalations Contracts
– 40+ Challenges
– 17 Achievements/trophies”

In addition to the above, there’s also thousands of player created missions which can be taken on through Contract Mode.

You can find the new trailer below, and links to the relevant platforms through Io’s launcher, here. It’s also worth noting that most of the platforms have the game on sale at the moment.

Hitman (2016) launched last year for Xbox One, PS4 & PC.