HITMAN™ - TravisIOI

We are very excited to reveal a brand new mission that is coming to HITMAN on December 13th, just in time for the holiday season!
"Holiday Hoarders" is a free mission for ALL players that takes place in a festive Paris, which has been overhauled with Christmas trees, snow, decorations and presents.

The mission will be released in support of World Cancer Research Fund and we are asking players to donate whatever they can via www.wcrf-uk.org/hitman
It's important for us to say that a donation is not required to enjoy the Holiday Hoarders mission and that all contributions of any amount are appreciated.

Take a look at the trailer for this mission and read on for more details - plus the full December Live Content Schedule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT8ksrKxPEU

The 'Holiday Hoarders' mission gives a festive feeling to the existing Paris location with snow, decorations and even presents, which have been scattered all around the palace. Unfortunately, not everyone in attendance at the fashion show is there to spread festive joy. Two thieves have gained entrance to the fashion show event and are stealing the presents. As Agent 47, it's your job to stop them, for good. If you are able to get to the presents first, feel free to open them and use whatever you find inside to help eliminate these two sticky bandits...

On top of all that, this new mission will add new holiday-specific challenges that offer up an additional reward.

The 'Holiday Hoarders' mission will be added to the game as part of the December Update, which is currently scheduled to arrive for all players on December 13th. As with all of our previous game updates, there will be a short maintenance period whilst we roll out the updates and new content. Specific details regarding the release time and release notes will be posted here on the blog closer to the release date. The new 'Holiday Hoarders' mission will not replace the existing Showstopper mission. Players will be able to choose which version of Paris they want to play.

DECEMBER LIVE CONTENT SCHEDULE

The 'Holiday Hoarders' mission is just one part of a packed schedule of HITMAN content this December; there's something new every week taking you through to 2017. Here's the full schedule of live content coming to the game throughout December.



First up this Thursday (December 8th) is the 'Master Sniper' Challenge Pack. We've created 5 new Sniping-related challenges for Sapienza and completing them all will unlock the 'Jaeger 7 Covert' Sniper Rifle and add it to your inventory. There's a few hints below about how to complete each challenge - and the full details will arrive when the Challenge Pack is automatically added to the game later this week.

HITMAN™ - TravisIOI

We are very excited to reveal a brand new mission that is coming to HITMAN on December 13th, just in time for the holiday season!
"Holiday Hoarders" is a free mission for ALL players that takes place in a festive Paris, which has been overhauled with Christmas trees, snow, decorations and presents.

The mission will be released in support of World Cancer Research Fund and we are asking players to donate whatever they can via www.wcrf-uk.org/hitman
It's important for us to say that a donation is not required to enjoy the Holiday Hoarders mission and that all contributions of any amount are appreciated.

Take a look at the trailer for this mission and read on for more details - plus the full December Live Content Schedule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT8ksrKxPEU

The 'Holiday Hoarders' mission gives a festive feeling to the existing Paris location with snow, decorations and even presents, which have been scattered all around the palace. Unfortunately, not everyone in attendance at the fashion show is there to spread festive joy. Two thieves have gained entrance to the fashion show event and are stealing the presents. As Agent 47, it's your job to stop them, for good. If you are able to get to the presents first, feel free to open them and use whatever you find inside to help eliminate these two sticky bandits...

On top of all that, this new mission will add new holiday-specific challenges that offer up an additional reward.

The 'Holiday Hoarders' mission will be added to the game as part of the December Update, which is currently scheduled to arrive for all players on December 13th. As with all of our previous game updates, there will be a short maintenance period whilst we roll out the updates and new content. Specific details regarding the release time and release notes will be posted here on the blog closer to the release date. The new 'Holiday Hoarders' mission will not replace the existing Showstopper mission. Players will be able to choose which version of Paris they want to play.

DECEMBER LIVE CONTENT SCHEDULE

The 'Holiday Hoarders' mission is just one part of a packed schedule of HITMAN content this December; there's something new every week taking you through to 2017. Here's the full schedule of live content coming to the game throughout December.



First up this Thursday (December 8th) is the 'Master Sniper' Challenge Pack. We've created 5 new Sniping-related challenges for Sapienza and completing them all will unlock the 'Jaeger 7 Covert' Sniper Rifle and add it to your inventory. There's a few hints below about how to complete each challenge - and the full details will arrive when the Challenge Pack is automatically added to the game later this week.

HITMAN™

There have been 14 Elusive Targets in Hitman so far, each one an interesting character in his or her own right, but I think it's fair to say that none have been quite like the 15th. She is known as the Angel of Death, she has dozens of kills to her credit, and she looks very much like your sweet, doting grandmother. And it's not a disguise.

Etta Davis is a retired nurse, formerly of the Royal Health Service in the UK, who has taken her murderous show on the road. In the past, she killed primarily with poison, but as she's grown older she's become more hands-on, and now prefers blunt instruments and the occasional violent "accident." How a woman in her 70s is able to throw healthy young men off of rooftops isn't clear, but Agent 47 isn't here to get the lowdown on geriatric weight training. He's here to punch Nana's ticket. 

The new Hitman Elusive Target goes live at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET today, December 2, and will remain in play for 168 hours—no more and no less. As always, there are no second chances, so if you blow it she's gone for good. (And you also get to bear the eternal shame of having been outfoxed by a woman with a purse full of hard candy. Better not screw this one up.) 

Sorry, Leon.

HITMAN™ - TravisIOI
The Angel of Death is the next Elusive Target to arrive in HITMAN, and an opportunity to earn a new unlockable suit, or maybe more depending on your progress so far.



At 14:00 CET / 05:00 PT on Friday 2nd December, we’ll update the Elusive Target tile on the Featured Hub in-game and the contract will be live. Elusive Target #15 will be in Marrakesh for 7 days (168 hours) and there won’t be any second chances. Remember that an Elusive Target cannot be restarted once any targets have been eliminated or any objectives have been completed.

Elusive Target 15 has one objective: Eliminate Etta Davis

Elusive Target Rewards

For completing Elusive Targets, we have some very unique rewards that can be earned. Remember that you need to achieve all objectives and exit the mission to 'complete' the Elusive Target.
We want to make sure that the suit rewards you'll earn through Elusive Targets are prestigious, and that they can be unlocked at a faster rate. As of November 18 (ET 14), we have made adjustments to how players unlock future Elusive Target suit rewards.

The below image shows all of the suits that can be unlocked through Elusive Targets and the requirements for earning them. Note that when you have unlocked a suit, it will be added to your inventory and can be used in all locations and contracts that allow you to select a starting suit.



It's important to note that these adjustments won't affect anything you've already unlocked or your progress to unlocking the three accumulative suits (HMA, Blood Money and Signature Suit) that have been the three rewards available so far.
It's equally important to note that this new rewards system came into effect on November 18 (with ET 14), meaning that you cannot retroactively unlock suits based on previous ET's. If you want that Winter Suit, you'll need to complete 5 ET's with a Silent Assassin rating, starting from ET 14.
HITMAN™ - TravisIOI
The Angel of Death is the next Elusive Target to arrive in HITMAN, and an opportunity to earn a new unlockable suit, or maybe more depending on your progress so far.



At 14:00 CET / 05:00 PT on Friday 2nd December, we’ll update the Elusive Target tile on the Featured Hub in-game and the contract will be live. Elusive Target #15 will be in Marrakesh for 7 days (168 hours) and there won’t be any second chances. Remember that an Elusive Target cannot be restarted once any targets have been eliminated or any objectives have been completed.

Elusive Target 15 has one objective: Eliminate Etta Davis

Elusive Target Rewards

For completing Elusive Targets, we have some very unique rewards that can be earned. Remember that you need to achieve all objectives and exit the mission to 'complete' the Elusive Target.
We want to make sure that the suit rewards you'll earn through Elusive Targets are prestigious, and that they can be unlocked at a faster rate. As of November 18 (ET 14), we have made adjustments to how players unlock future Elusive Target suit rewards.

The below image shows all of the suits that can be unlocked through Elusive Targets and the requirements for earning them. Note that when you have unlocked a suit, it will be added to your inventory and can be used in all locations and contracts that allow you to select a starting suit.



It's important to note that these adjustments won't affect anything you've already unlocked or your progress to unlocking the three accumulative suits (HMA, Blood Money and Signature Suit) that have been the three rewards available so far.
It's equally important to note that this new rewards system came into effect on November 18 (with ET 14), meaning that you cannot retroactively unlock suits based on previous ET's. If you want that Winter Suit, you'll need to complete 5 ET's with a Silent Assassin rating, starting from ET 14.
HITMAN™

The rendering of game worlds tends to be the focus of their praise: The haunting decay of Metro 2033's subway cities, the attention to detail in GTA V's storefronts, the postcard beauty of The Witcher 3's grand vistas. Often, though, these discussions skip over the less tangible aspects of a place: its atmosphere, its purpose, its people. A world’s inhabitants define it as much as its appearance, and can transform a familiar environment into a foreign one without shifting a single polygonal brick.

A world s inhabitants define it as much as its appearance, and can transform a familiar environment into a foreign one without shifting a single polygonal brick.

Hitman—the game and the franchise—exemplifies the notion of systemically-defined space. The clockwork routines of its people imprint themselves on the environment: this rooftop is where the guard takes his smoke break, that apartment is where the trainee chef argues with his sister, oblivious to the professional chameleon sneaking in and stealing his uniform. AI routines dictate how we navigate the world, directing us down certain paths and establishing distinct associations between form and function. Our passage through a place becomes part of its identity.

The game I always come back to when thinking of the effect people have on a space is Dragon Age: Origins. Depending on your chosen origin story, you begin your adventure in either the Dwarven city of Orzammar, the Elven Alienage, the Mage Tower, the Brecilian Forest, or the town of Highever. Aside from Highever, you'll revisit each location later in the game from the perspective of The Warden. Thanks to the war with the darkspawn, your home is not the same place you left it, with the Alienage on the brink of riot, Brecilian Forest plagued by disease, and the Mage Tower overrun with abominations. Though each location looks the same, the atmosphere is far more grim, with hopeless faces and hostile glares emphasizing the human, Dwarven, and Elven cost of the war in a way no bombastic battle can.

The Gelateria Bella caf during the day.

Hitman recontextualizes familiar locations even more dramatically than Dragon Age with its bonus episodes, which modify the Sapienza and Marrakesh maps by repopulating them with fresh actors and different AI routines. Because Hitman is all about manipulating and deceiving the AI, the new denizens provide a raft of new challenges, forcing players to switch up tactics and approach the familiar locations from a fresh perspective. Hitman is at its best when you're exploring the interplay of its systems, overflowing sinks near exposed electrical wires and dropping weapons on patrol paths to trick guards into leading you to the security office. This is the kind of experimentation the bonus episodes focus on, giving you a whole new batch of virtual puppets to knock out, strip down to their underwear, and dump inside empty refrigerators.

The first bonus mission, set in Sapienza, is an excellent example of how an environment’s actors can transform it. Sapienza is Hitman’s second location, and in the original mission it features an elegant Italian town basking beneath the midday sun, its majestic villa and sweeping seaside vistas evoking a sprawling grandeur. It's the largest level of the first season—or at least it feels that way because it's so packed with possibility. Secret passages lurk behind loose walls. A valuable disguise lies waiting inside a church morgue. Gunpowder cannons peek from the crenellations of a ruined castle. The possibility space is as large as the town itself.

The architecture of the buildings and byways may remain the same, but the people have changed dramatically.

The Sapienza that features in the bonus episode, though, is a different beast. Night cloaks the town in shadow, reducing visibility and forcing you to sneak in closer than normal to suss out the situation. Fences close off access to the beach and the villa, adding a claustrophobic pressure to the challenge of remaining unseen. Streets that once felt breezy and boisterous now seem cold and cloistered, their crucial lines-of-sight blocked by barricades and movie props. Guards travel in pairs and workers cluster beneath a handful of floodlights, refusing to wander off for an easy takedown. Despite the darkness, silent assassinations are tougher than ever.

Gone are the town's ordinary residents, replaced by rabid movie fans scrambling to catch a glimpse of the blockbuster being filmed in Sapienza's main street. Hired thugs give way to professional security guards, their focus keen and their trigger fingers notably less itchy. Cleaners and gardeners sleep the night away, their valuable blue-collar invisibility stripped from Agent 47's toolkit. In their stead, camera operators and pyrotechnicians hurry to and fro, their hawkish eyes quick to out 47 as an imposter. To survive their gaze, you must approach Sapienza as if it were an entirely new location. The architecture of the buildings and byways may remain the same, but the people have changed dramatically.

The Gelateria Bella caf at night.

What was once a hostile place loosens its tie and untucks its shirt, adopting the laid-back air of school grounds after the end-of-day bell.

Consider Sapienza's Gelateria Bella café. Formerly a hotbed of civilian activity best avoided, at night it shuts its doors and becomes a break room for exhausted film crew and catering staff, a sanctuary where they vent their frustrations and helpfully clue you into valuable opportunities. What was once a hostile place loosens its tie and untucks its shirt, adopting the laid-back air of school grounds after the end-of-day bell. Its locked doors and inattentive inhabitants give it a sense of safety, as much your sanctuary as it is the film crew's. Forget avoiding the café; at night, it's one of the first places you'll want to visit. 

The purpose a place serves informs its character just as clearly as its aesthetics. Take the clock tower overlooking Sapienza's main street: during the daytime, its stairwell echoes with silence, its empty roof the perfect sniper's perch. It is a monument to cold, clinical death, a place for those wanting to distance themselves from intimate assassination. 

The second time around, though, the roof of the clock tower becomes a camera nest, playing host to both a cameraman and a security guard. Stripped of its solitude, the tower takes on a new purpose. Eliminating its occupants away from prying eyes and ears nets you two disguises, all the more precious given Sapienza’s night-time crowd. Its elevated vantage is equally useful, affording a clear view of the clockwork routines whirring away in the street below—an opportunity denied by the decentralised nature of the level during the day. Physically and conceptually, the tower becomes a pillar of your second trip to Sapienza.

If there's one word to describe the Sapienza bonus mission, it's focused. Beyond its smaller area, the mission foregoes roaming targets for a fixed one: the movie star Dino Bosco, revealed to you right as you begin the level. By centering your attention on a single location, the level becomes more directed than its previous incarnation, a case of focusing on the how rather than the who and where. 

This design produces a Sapienza divided into regions of tiered intensity, concentric zones of escalating danger focused on the boisterous Bosco. On the periphery, the streets are quiet, the thick shadows masking the evidence of your misdeeds. As you work your way onto the film set, security steps up its presence and its vigilance, demanding patience and planning to remain incognito. Danger rises like the clicking of a Geiger counter, its steady ascent in sharp contrast to the fluctuating tension of stalking Silvio Caruso and Francesca De Santis during the day-time.

Bosco's preference for standing in the spotlight instead of wandering secluded alleyways drastically alters the pacing of the episode. Impulsive hit-and-run tactics are out of the question; patient observation is the only way to complete your mission undetected. Guns are suddenly useless against Bosco's Iron Man suit, while his massive ego ensures he's always being watched, waited on, and fawned over. Just like the movie under direction, you're going to have to throw your practiced script out the window if you want a hit on your hands.

As Sapienza shows, how we perceive a location is as much about its people, its mood, and its focus as its aesthetic. If the first trip to Sapienza was a lazy summer vacation, the second is a guided tour, its intimidating freedom exchanged for a smaller, tighter task. From Paris to Hokkaido, Hitman is a shining example of spatial economy, leveraging assassination challenges, escalation missions, and elusive targets to squeeze every drop of blood out of its exotic locations. Season Two might not have a release date yet, but with so much left to explore in Season One, I'm more than happy to wait.

HITMAN™

With the first season of Hitman now wrapped up, Io Interactive says that today's November update is the first in a series of "major game updates that will tweak the game and add new content leading up to the launch of the disc-based edition early next year, and beyond that into season two." The biggest change in this patch is the addition of an "Offline Profile," which makes all the rewards you've earned in the live game accessible even when you're disconnected. 

That means all Mastery items, including weapons, gear, and starting/pickup locations, plus Elusive Target suit rewards and Challenge Pack unlocks, are yours to use as you like when you're away from the internet's sweet embrace. (Hey, it happens sometimes, right?) You'll need to connect to the game servers once to acquire your Hit-stuff locally, but after that you're as free as a bald bird in a well-tailored suit. 

The update also makes a "stability sweep" through the game to fix various sorts of crashes and instability, adds an "opportunity completion checkmark" to simplify the process of tracking your progress toward claiming achievements, rewards capable players with a "Silent Assassin" rating on the scoring screen (when they've earned one), overhauls the statistics page, and adds a "success state" indicator to contracts. 

My favorite addition is a new move that didn't work out quite like it was supposed to: The ability to pull enemies over balconies or out of windows, Sam Fisher-like, while you're hanging below them. "Unfortunately, there is a known issue for this move: NPCs that see this move will not blame 47, even if they are looking directly at the NPC or at 47," the studio wrote. It's apparently too late to do anything about it now, so the plan is to let players abuse it to their hearts' content until the rollout of the December update, when the feature will be removed. It will be brought back into action in January, around the same time as the disc-based release.   

The Hitman November update is about 2.1GB in size, and "mandatory" for all players. Full details are available on Steam.

HITMAN™ - TravisIOI

The HITMAN November Update is a mandatory update for all players and includes improvements across the board. It's a 2.1GB download on PC.

The below release notes are also available here: https://hitman.com/news/november-update-release-notes

Less than a month ago, we released the Season Finale; Episode 6 Hokkaido. This November Update is the first of a series of planned major game updates that will add new content and improvements to the game, both leading up to the physical disc release on January 31st 2017 and beyond. We always set out to create a game with a major live component and over the course of the first season, we have established exactly that by releasing content each and every week on top of the major location releases. A December Update is also on the horizon, but first things first. Here are the release notes for our November Update, also known as 1.7.0, as per the in-game menu.


November Update Release Notes

General Improvements

Offline Profile
All unlockable items that are earned when connected to the game's servers, are now also saved to an 'offline profile', meaning that they can be used when in Offline Mode.
Items include all mastery items; including weapons, gear, starting/pickup locations as well as Elusive Target suit rewards and Challenge Pack unlocks.
Note: You must be connected to the game servers in order to acquire new unlocks.

Stability Sweep
Fixed different issues across all locations that previously resulted in the game crashing or becoming unstable.

Opportunity Completion Checkmark
We've added functionality to mark an opportunity with a checkmark when it has been successfully completed, similar to how we show that a challenge has been completed.
This will show you the completed opportunities at-a-glance and make it easier to track completion when trying to achieve the achievements/trophies linked to opportunities.

Silent Assassin Rating Display
The scoring screen now displays "Silent Assassin" when a player completes a mission with that rating.

Major Update to Statistics Page
The 'Statistics' page has been overhauled with a new visual design that displays the challenge completion, mastery level completion and overall location completion.

Pause Menu
We've changed the background of the pause menu to be the current in-game moment, rather than the world map.

Mission Accomplished Screen Update
When successfully completing a mission, the mission accomplished screen will now show the last frame of the exit sequence, rather than fading to black.

Contracts Mode 'Success State'
After playing a Contract, the menu will now show either a checkmark (complete) or a cross (fail) to show your status for the Contract.

Improved consistency for Elusive Targets Challenge Images
The Elusive Targets Challenges now have a more consistent style.

New IOI logo
We have a new studio logo, and now that's in the game.

Challenge Completed SFX
We added a subtle sound effect that plays when unlocking a challenge.


Pull an Enemy
In this update, we've added the ability for 47 to pull people over balconies or out of windows, when he is hanging on a ledge or below the balcony/window.
Unfortunately, there is a known issue for this move: NPC's that see this move will not blame 47, even if they are looking directly at the NPC or at 47.
For that reason, we will remove this ability with our December Update and fix this. It will then be re-introduced with a game update in January, around the same time as the disc release.


Fixed Issues

Paris

Fixed an issue with trespassing whilst dressed as a Chef in Paris
Fixed issues that could cause multiple opportunities in Paris to fail, depending on 47's actions
Fixed an issue where water splashes could be heard in certain areas of the attic in Paris
Fixed an issue where 47 could vault into an inaccessible location in Paris. The vault prompt has been removed
Fixed an issue that could cause the light rig in Paris to also cause damage in the basement

Sapienza

Fixed inconsistent trespassing boundaries in Sapienza
Fixed an issue where the 'Mission Accomplished' music could be heard during the cinematic following The World of Tomorrow.

Marrakesh

Fixed an issue that would cause the 'Open Sesame' opportunity in Marrakesh to fail, instead of being completed
Fixed inconsistent trespassing boundaries in Marrakesh
Fixed an issue that would cause the documents to be lost when using the 'push' prompt on Matthieu Mendola in 'A House Built on Sand'.
Fixed an issue where the crowd and helicopter sounds could be heard in some parts of the tunnel in Marrakesh
Fixed an issue where starting combat in the school will alert all guards on the map in Marrakesh

Bangkok

Fixed an issue where Agent 47 could 'blend-in' without the correct disguise in Bangkok
Fixed an issue with the physics of a guitar stand in Bangkok.
Fixed an issue with clipping when wearing the Exterminator disguise in Bangkok.
Fixed an issue with an invisible wall in the atrium in Bangkok.
Fixed an issue where Jackie Carrington's routine could get stuck in Bangkok.
Fixed an issue where guards that have spotted 47 trespassing in one disguise, would immediately attempt to arrest him when finding him in a non-trespassing area in a different disguise.

Colorado

Fixed an issue where the hay bale in Colorado would not drop when shot in certain places
Fixed an issue where a door in Sean Rose's room could not be opened by Rose's Room Key
Fixed an issue that could cause the Target Lockdown alert to trigger in Colorado without player action
Fixed an issue that could make it impossible to complete the Freedom Fighters mission in Colorado

Hokkaido

Fixed an issue where a kill involving the hot springs in Hokkaido would be classed as 'Accident Fall', it is now classified as a drowning kill

General

Fixed an issue where a gun rattling sound could be heard when crouching after dropping a weapon
Fixed an issue where a challenge notification would be displayed after the first kill in a mission
Fixed an issue where the weapon HUD would sometimes display incorrectly when using 'minimal' HUD settings
Fixed an issue where subtitles could still be seen in the Pause Menu
Fixed an issue with Cyrillic characters not rendering properly on the Contracts Briefing tile

PC-Specific Issues

Fixed an issue where the cinematics between missions could drop to as low as 19 fps
Fixed an issue where the selected GPU in the Game Launcher is not the one used by the game
Fixed an issue where some tabs in the 'Replanning' screen could not be selected with a mouse
Fixed an issue with unequipping an item during the 'Planning' phase
Fixed an issue in Marrakesh where heavy flickering in areas with artificial lighting would occur on specifics setups
Fixed an issue where the framerate could stutter during combat, primarily on DX12 setups

Next Update

As we mentioned at the start of this blog post, we are also planning a December Update, which we are very excited about as it will wrap up the year nicely and will be a great way for us to wish all of our players a happy holiday season. We'll have specifics to share as we get a little bit further into December.

November Content Schedule

Elusive Targets, Escalation Contracts, Featured Contracts and Challenge Packs are all in the pipeline and to give you an idea of our plans at this stage, the November Content Schedule shows everything that is coming throughout the month. As we get into December, we'll have a new content schedule. Look for that next week.

HITMAN™ - TravisIOI

The HITMAN November Update is a mandatory update for all players and includes improvements across the board. It's a 2.1GB download on PC.

The below release notes are also available here: https://hitman.com/news/november-update-release-notes

Less than a month ago, we released the Season Finale; Episode 6 Hokkaido. This November Update is the first of a series of planned major game updates that will add new content and improvements to the game, both leading up to the physical disc release on January 31st 2017 and beyond. We always set out to create a game with a major live component and over the course of the first season, we have established exactly that by releasing content each and every week on top of the major location releases. A December Update is also on the horizon, but first things first. Here are the release notes for our November Update, also known as 1.7.0, as per the in-game menu.


November Update Release Notes

General Improvements

Offline Profile
All unlockable items that are earned when connected to the game's servers, are now also saved to an 'offline profile', meaning that they can be used when in Offline Mode.
Items include all mastery items; including weapons, gear, starting/pickup locations as well as Elusive Target suit rewards and Challenge Pack unlocks.
Note: You must be connected to the game servers in order to acquire new unlocks.

Stability Sweep
Fixed different issues across all locations that previously resulted in the game crashing or becoming unstable.

Opportunity Completion Checkmark
We've added functionality to mark an opportunity with a checkmark when it has been successfully completed, similar to how we show that a challenge has been completed.
This will show you the completed opportunities at-a-glance and make it easier to track completion when trying to achieve the achievements/trophies linked to opportunities.

Silent Assassin Rating Display
The scoring screen now displays "Silent Assassin" when a player completes a mission with that rating.

Major Update to Statistics Page
The 'Statistics' page has been overhauled with a new visual design that displays the challenge completion, mastery level completion and overall location completion.

Pause Menu
We've changed the background of the pause menu to be the current in-game moment, rather than the world map.

Mission Accomplished Screen Update
When successfully completing a mission, the mission accomplished screen will now show the last frame of the exit sequence, rather than fading to black.

Contracts Mode 'Success State'
After playing a Contract, the menu will now show either a checkmark (complete) or a cross (fail) to show your status for the Contract.

Improved consistency for Elusive Targets Challenge Images
The Elusive Targets Challenges now have a more consistent style.

New IOI logo
We have a new studio logo, and now that's in the game.

Challenge Completed SFX
We added a subtle sound effect that plays when unlocking a challenge.


Pull an Enemy
In this update, we've added the ability for 47 to pull people over balconies or out of windows, when he is hanging on a ledge or below the balcony/window.
Unfortunately, there is a known issue for this move: NPC's that see this move will not blame 47, even if they are looking directly at the NPC or at 47.
For that reason, we will remove this ability with our December Update and fix this. It will then be re-introduced with a game update in January, around the same time as the disc release.


Fixed Issues

Paris

Fixed an issue with trespassing whilst dressed as a Chef in Paris
Fixed issues that could cause multiple opportunities in Paris to fail, depending on 47's actions
Fixed an issue where water splashes could be heard in certain areas of the attic in Paris
Fixed an issue where 47 could vault into an inaccessible location in Paris. The vault prompt has been removed
Fixed an issue that could cause the light rig in Paris to also cause damage in the basement

Sapienza

Fixed inconsistent trespassing boundaries in Sapienza
Fixed an issue where the 'Mission Accomplished' music could be heard during the cinematic following The World of Tomorrow.

Marrakesh

Fixed an issue that would cause the 'Open Sesame' opportunity in Marrakesh to fail, instead of being completed
Fixed inconsistent trespassing boundaries in Marrakesh
Fixed an issue that would cause the documents to be lost when using the 'push' prompt on Matthieu Mendola in 'A House Built on Sand'.
Fixed an issue where the crowd and helicopter sounds could be heard in some parts of the tunnel in Marrakesh
Fixed an issue where starting combat in the school will alert all guards on the map in Marrakesh

Bangkok

Fixed an issue where Agent 47 could 'blend-in' without the correct disguise in Bangkok
Fixed an issue with the physics of a guitar stand in Bangkok.
Fixed an issue with clipping when wearing the Exterminator disguise in Bangkok.
Fixed an issue with an invisible wall in the atrium in Bangkok.
Fixed an issue where Jackie Carrington's routine could get stuck in Bangkok.
Fixed an issue where guards that have spotted 47 trespassing in one disguise, would immediately attempt to arrest him when finding him in a non-trespassing area in a different disguise.

Colorado

Fixed an issue where the hay bale in Colorado would not drop when shot in certain places
Fixed an issue where a door in Sean Rose's room could not be opened by Rose's Room Key
Fixed an issue that could cause the Target Lockdown alert to trigger in Colorado without player action
Fixed an issue that could make it impossible to complete the Freedom Fighters mission in Colorado

Hokkaido

Fixed an issue where a kill involving the hot springs in Hokkaido would be classed as 'Accident Fall', it is now classified as a drowning kill

General

Fixed an issue where a gun rattling sound could be heard when crouching after dropping a weapon
Fixed an issue where a challenge notification would be displayed after the first kill in a mission
Fixed an issue where the weapon HUD would sometimes display incorrectly when using 'minimal' HUD settings
Fixed an issue where subtitles could still be seen in the Pause Menu
Fixed an issue with Cyrillic characters not rendering properly on the Contracts Briefing tile

PC-Specific Issues

Fixed an issue where the cinematics between missions could drop to as low as 19 fps
Fixed an issue where the selected GPU in the Game Launcher is not the one used by the game
Fixed an issue where some tabs in the 'Replanning' screen could not be selected with a mouse
Fixed an issue with unequipping an item during the 'Planning' phase
Fixed an issue in Marrakesh where heavy flickering in areas with artificial lighting would occur on specifics setups
Fixed an issue where the framerate could stutter during combat, primarily on DX12 setups

Next Update

As we mentioned at the start of this blog post, we are also planning a December Update, which we are very excited about as it will wrap up the year nicely and will be a great way for us to wish all of our players a happy holiday season. We'll have specifics to share as we get a little bit further into December.

November Content Schedule

Elusive Targets, Escalation Contracts, Featured Contracts and Challenge Packs are all in the pipeline and to give you an idea of our plans at this stage, the November Content Schedule shows everything that is coming throughout the month. As we get into December, we'll have a new content schedule. Look for that next week.

HITMAN™ - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Graham Smith)

I still haven’t got round to playing it, but it feels good that there’s a good Hitman [official site] again. Blood Money is one of my favourite games ever, Absolution was terrible, but the general consensus is that the latest is somewhere between good and great.

A new update for it has just been released which, rather than adding more content, aims to improve what’s already there. That includes offline profiles, which allows you to continue using unlockable items earned while online when you’re offline.

… [visit site to read more]

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