Hitman has been a consistent presence in the gaming world of the 21st century, with several games revealed across multiple generations of consoles. The games, which blend action-packed third-person shooter gameplay with stealth mechanics, have been an enduring franchise in an industry that is always on the lookout for a new icon. However, the series has experienced plenty of starts and stops over the years, especially as developer IO Interactive has balanced its approach to new releases with the realities and challenges of the gaming industry.
All of those struggles have paid off in recent years, though, where Hitman: World of Assassination has become the most successful entry in the series. Launching ten years ago, the reinvention of the series has found a way to tweak the live-service model so that the game is constantly giving players new challenges and missions while retaining the strong worldbuilding and tight gameplay that made the older games so engaging. Here’s how Hitman evolved over the years and why the last ten years have been the best ever for the series.
Hitman’s Early Success And Later Struggles Led To The Franchise’s Best Innovation
Hitman debuted 26 years ago, but it reached new heights with the Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy that launched March 11, 2016. Hitman has been the foundational series for IO Interactive ever since the company was founded in the aftermath of game developer Zyrinx’s dissolution. The series has always focused on Agent 47, the otherwise nameless titular hitman. While many of the game’s action-packed shoot-outs felt part and parcel with the overall direction of the genre in that era, an emphasis on stealth, the ability for the player to disguise themselves with NPC costumes, and the incorporation of ragdoll physics helped the game stand out from its peers.
Over the next 16 years, the series would receive five mainline games, alongside a pair of remastered editions and two mobile games. Following a second hiatus after 2012’s Hitman: Absolution failed to reach parent company Square Enix’s expectations, IO Interactive went back to the drawing board and expanded the franchise in a new direction with a soft reboot. 2016’s Hitman was released episodically, which quietly reinvented the series in a major way. When this game also failed to meet the desired profits for Square Enix, however, the developer parted ways with the gaming giant and took the opportunity to fully reinvent what Hitman was.
Hitman: World of Assassination Reshaped The Franchise For The Better
2016’s Hitman served as a fresh jumping-on point for players, offering a tighter narrative and more focused approach to gameplay. Players were let loose into larger sandbox environments and given a greater wealth of options when it came to dispatching their target. It was a delightful way to draw the player more into the experience and more thoroughly sell the immersion of becoming a world-class assassin. Although the game was well-received by fans and critics, IO Interactive parted ways with Square Enix for the sequel. Hitman 2 was a collaboration with Warner Bros. Games, briefly bringing the series back in line with the older approach.
When IO Interactive decided to self-publish the third game in the modern trilogy, they were able to return to the episodic approach that had given them a lot of room for experimentation and growth with the first game. Part of the appeal of doing the episodic approach was to allow the developers to tweak and evolve the game even after it was released, creating a space where players could see their feedback impacting the game in real time. Hitman 3 quickly proved to be the biggest success in the franchise’s history, proving IO Interactive was on to something with this approach. Folding the previous two games into a new edition now dubbed Hitman: World of Assassination, the new title opened up an exciting and potentially limitless horizon for the series.
Hitman Proves Old Horses Can Learn New Tricks
Hitman has always been popular, with the character quickly making the leap to other media like feature-length film adaptations. However, Hitman: World of Assassination has been something entirely different. It’s expanded to create an entire world for players, where their ability to blend into the setting is crucial to their effectiveness on a mission. The freedom and flexibility of player interaction and direction have reshaped the ways the games can be played. It’s also been the perfect opportunity for stuff like the Elusive Targets, which have brought in guest stars like Eminem to serve as figures in the narrative for short episodic adventures.
Hitman, more than almost any other franchise that came into being at the turn of the century, has found a way to use the current atmosphere of constant content drops to their advantage. It’s helped foster a great community for the game, where inventive approaches to shared missions have revealed a larger scope of options. It’s also helped give players more reason to connect with Agent 47, turning the purposefully abrasive figure into a genuinely compelling lead. Hitman has gone through multiple hiatuses and struggles over the years, but the current iteration of the game — which really debuted a decade ago today — has ensured that the series has truly succeeded in an ever-changing and constantly challenging landscape.