Hitman III Officially Announced for Next-Gen Consoles, Coming 2021
As part of the recent PS5 game reveal event, which included the announcement of numerous upcoming next-gen titles, IO Interactive officially announced Hitman III; the final entry in their reboot trilogy which began in 2016. Hitman III will be launching on both next-gen and current-gen consoles, and PC, in January 2021.
Hitman III Will Release in January 2021
Not only did Hitman fans get to see the game’s announcement trailer during the PS5 event, but IO Interactive even included an early look at gameplay. This second trailer offered a glimpse at the first of the upcoming six levels in the third game, set high atop a luxury skyscraper in Dubai. Hitman III will be the third and final installment in IO Interactive’s Hitman trilogy, which have largely served to reboot the franchise following Hitman: Absolution.
The first game in this trilogy, Hitman, launched back in 2016 but underperformed commercially. As a result, Square Enix split from developer IO Interactive, who subsequently partnered with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and managed to return the rights to the series. Hitman II launched in November 2018 to widespread positive reviews. Since then, IO Interactive has been supporting the game with a great deal of post-launch content, including the launch of two full levels on top of the original six.
One of the most unusual aspects of IO Interactive’s trilogy has been their support for past content with new releases; something which is expected to continue with Hitman III. Upon the launch of Hitman II, the studio released remastered versions of all of the first game’s levels, updated with the second game’s new mechanics, into the second game. In fact, this content was also free for anybody who owned the first game. As a result, the developers have been able to ensure that Hitman II offers a huge range of content. Indeed, this ‘World of Assassination’ plan will continue with Hitman III; IO Interactive has confirmed that all previous game content can be imported into the third game. In the words of the studio, “Hitman 3 will act as a platform for the entire trilogy.”