Hitman 3 will be out January 20 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Stadia and PC via Epic Games Store, IO Interactive announced today. It’ll also let players upgrade digital copies of the game to their next-gen versions for free.
“Yes, we’re doing a next-gen upgrade for consoles and yes, it’s free,” the studio wrote on the game’s pre-order page. On the PlayStation Store players who own the PS4 version of the game will be able to upgrade at not extra cost, while on Xbox Series X the game will support Smart Delivery, meaning Microsoft will automatically boot up either the current or next-gen version of the game depending on which console you’re playing from at the time. Of course, these upgrades only work for the digital version of the game. It sounds like if you buy it physically you’ll be out of luck.
Hitman 3 is thus another interesting data point in the ongoing mess around how different studios and publishers are handling upgrades and pricing around cross-gen games. Far Cry 6 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla both support free upgrades on both consoles (for the digital versions). Remedy’s Control, published by 505 Games last year, notably does not.
Players who want to upgrade to the PS5 and Series X versions when they are out will need to buy the ~$60 Ultimate Edition that’s coming out this month. Meanwhile games like NBA 2K21 and Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War seem to be factoring upgrades directly into the price of the game, with the PS5 and Series X versions of those games allowing cross-gen upgrades while costing $100 instead of the usual $70.
But let’s remember what’s really important in all of this: Hitman 3 didn’t get delayed.
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