Hitman 3 has seen a lot of negative criticisms and review bombing on Steam this week. The Year 2 Update for consoles and PC didn't win favor with fans, and IOI has promised a "free upgrade" to all Steam players as an apology gift.
Hitman 3's launch on Steam was set to sync up with the long-awaited Year 2 update promised by IO Interactive, but the past week has seen many players disappointed by the finished product. IO Interactive is now attempting to make up for the lukewarm update by providing upgraded content to current owners and new buyers for a limited time.
IO Interactive's comparatively quick announcement offers Hitman 3 Deluxe Edition to owners of the Standard Edition, and the additional Seven Deadly Sins collection to owners of the Hitman Trilogy and Deluxe Edition. The difference between these editions consists of different DLC content bundles that can be purchased with the main game, such as more escalations, reskinned items, and developer's commentary. Fans will therefore be able to receive additional content that is roughly $20-30 more expensive than the main game for free.
This could be IO Interactive's attempt to kill two birds with one stone, as Hitman 3 received complaints on its pricing across Steam, meaning users will have to spend the typical $60-80 for the full game. Another less than satisfying addition to the Year 2 update is the Escalations Mode, which has been ridiculed and memed on social media. Ignoring bugs and programming issues, the updated mode subtracts a lot of Hitman's praiseworthy stealth action and inventive playstyles in favor of limited and linear challenges.
Xbox Series X users have also been experiencing crashes while playing Hitman 3, rendering the game unplayable despite the impressive hardware Series X consoles possess. IOI has publicly announced an investigation is underway to combat this, but this isn't much comfort to Xbox owners who have yet to receive any free bonuses like the Steam owners.
Hitman 3 is the best-selling game in the World of Assassination Trilogy, but these recent issues don't bode well for IO Interactive's relationship with its PC fanbase. It remains to be seen how this will impact future projects, such as the James Bond tie-in game Project 007 currently in development.
Hitman 3 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
