Update: IO Interactive now says PC players who own Hitman and Hitman 2 will indeed be able to access the games’ content for free in Hitman 3. However, in Hitman 2’s case, it won’t be ready quite yet, with the developer saying it will happen in “the coming weeks.”
Original story follows …
Hitman 3 is offering players the chance to play the entire “World of Assassination” trilogy within one game client, with levels from the first two games available for import. This content is free to those who bought the console games, but it’s going to cost you if you plan to play on PC. Luckily, that cost isn’t that high.
In the game’s official pre-launch guide, IO Interactive explained the game’s Access Pass system, which is what will give you free access to previous Hitman games’ content if you own them. On PlayStation and Xbox, this is possible by going into the in-game store for Hitman 2 and claiming the Access Pass, which also means you won’t have to keep the disc in your system to use this content with Hitman 3. Progress can also be carried over from those games if you don’t want to start from scratch.
Because the PC version of Hitman 3 is only going to be available on the Epic Games Store at launch–a place Hitman 2 is not available–you cannot get the Access Pass for free. However, it will be available for 80% off during the first two weeks the game is available. The content from the 2016 Hitman is available to anyone who buys Hitman 3 on the Epic Games Store within the first 10 days. Anyone who redeemed the first game when it was free earlier on Epic Games Store will also get access to it in Hitman 3 for free on PC, even if it’s past that window.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also said he’s looking into the situation with IO Interactive. If all goes well, it’s possible the plan could be reversed and the content would also be free to PC players, but there isn’t a definitive answer yet.
Sorry, the team is looking into this with IO. It’s never Epic’s intent to create a situation where someone who owns a game on Steam would have to buy it again on Epic Games Store to get the full benefits of it.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 16, 2021
Hitman 3 releases on January 20 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch via the cloud. On the PS4 version, you’ll be able to play all three games’ levels via PlayStation VR, as well. This will be included for free if you buy the PS5-only copy to ensure compatibility, but both versions need to be installed to support it and you need to use the DualShock 4 controller instead of the DualSense.
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