IO and Epic promise a solution to Hitman 3’s PC legacy content muddle

IO Interactive has backtracked on plans that would have seen Hitman 3 PC players having to purchase DLC add-ons in order to access legacy Hitman 2 content – even if they already owned the game on Steam.

In a blog post published last week, IO explained that Hitman 1 and 2 would essentially work as DLC for the third game, transferring levels and missions into the new game for those who owned the legacy titles or purchased new Access Pass DLC.

The process would happen automatically for console players, IO said. However, because it has switched to Epic Games Store for the third PC game, and Hitman 2 is not available on the platform, players would need to repurchase Hitman 2 levels as a DLC pack in order to access them.

IO claimed the situation was “out of our control” and different from its initial plans. PC players would still be able to transfer Hitman 2 progression, such as existing player profiles and challenge progress, via a pre-release website, it said.

However, in a pair of statements published this weekend, both Epic and IO addressed the issue and promised that they would implement a free solution for Hitman 2 PC players looking to import locations into Hitman 3.

“We guarantee that players will not need to repurchase the games,” IO said in a statement, confirming that the solution would be rolled out “in the coming weeks.”

Until then, the Hitman 1 GOTY Access Pass will be free to all PC players who purchase Hitman 3 before its first ten days of sale. The Access Pass adds all locations and missions currently available in the Hitman 1 GOTY Edition.

In its own statement, Epic said: “We never want players to feel forced to repurchase content on the Epic Game Store that they bought on another PC store so they can access features in a new game.”

IO Interactive recently revealed the remaining locations that Agent 47 will visit in Hitman 3, including Dubai, UAE, Dartmoor, England, and Chongqing, China.

VGC critic Matthew Castle wrote in this month’s Hitman 3 preview: “Outside of [a few] tweaks, there are fewer leaps than we saw between Hitman 1 and 2.

“Agent 47 has a camera for hacking locks and analysing clues (handy when playing Dartmoor detective), but it’s more of a story gimmick than a versatile tool. As far as I can tell, older levels haven’t gained hackable doors in the same way they were updated with extra bushes in Hitman 2.”

”further

Hands-On: Hitman 3 is a globe-trotting escape from the pandemic

Agent 47’s on top of the world, so watch out below...