PC Players Will Have To Buy Hitman 2 All Over Again To Unlock Its Levels In Hitman 3 (Update: A Fix Is In The Works)

IO Interactive outlined how levels and progress will be carried over to Hitman 3 from the previous games in a complicated FAQ over on its website today, and it’s a mess for players on PC seemingly thanks to Epic Games Store and Steam not playing nice with each other.

Update – 4:08 p.m. ET, 1/17/21: Epic Games Store and IO Interactive have changed course, tweeting today that they are both working toward a solution. “We guarantee that players will not need to repurchase the games,” IO Interactive wrote. “Until we roll that out in the coming weeks, the Hitman 1 GOTY Access Pass will be free to own for all PC players who pre-purchase or purchase Hitman 3 in the first 10 days after release.”

We never want players to feel forced to repurchase content on the Epic Game Store that they bought on another PC store so they can access features in a new game.

We are working closely with IO Interactive and you will be able to access past content from earlier HITMAN games. https://t.co/1MAT1O0Nly

— Epic Games Store (@EpicGames) January 17, 2021

Original story follows.

On console, things are pretty straightforward. Players who already own Hitman 1 and 2 on PS4 or Xbox One will be able to carry their progress over to the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Hitman 3 respectively, as well as redeem both sets of levels as DLC in the new game. But on PC things aren’t so simple.

“We’ve done everything possible to make this process smooth and player-friendly,” IO Interactive wrote in its pre-launch post today. “However, due to various circumstances out of our control, we want to acknowledge that the process is different to our initial plans for PC players.”

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Anyone who buys Hitman 3 within the first 10 days of its launch on the Epic Games Store, where it’s currently a timed-exclusive, will automatically get access to the Hitman 1, which is also available to buy separately on Epic Games Store as DLC. However, Hitman 2, which isn’t currently sold on the Epic Games Store, will need to be purchased again as DLC in order for PC players to access those levels, even if they already have the game on Steam.

“As Hitman 2 is not available on EGS, we have set up an 80% discount for this access pass for the first 14 days after Hitman 3’s launch,” IO Interactive wrote. “It will also grant access to the Hitman 2 expansion access pass.” In other words, the studio will give PC players who have to re-buy Hitman 2 a massive discount to unlock the content in Hitman 3 for the first couple of weeks, though it’s not clear exactly how much they’ll still have to pay.

The Hitman website still advertises access to Hitman 2 within Hitman 3 as being free to all current owners of the game. — The *Hitman* website still advertises access to Hitman 2 within *Hitman 3* as being free to all current owners of the game. Screenshot: IO Interactive (Fair Use)

As you might expect, longtime Hitman players over on the game’s subreddit are upset, in part because IO Interactive itself had previously stated that existing owners would be able to play all their favorite Hitman levels in one single place at no extra cost.

“[W]e are pleased to confirm that PC players will be able to carry over their current progression and unlocks from Hitman 2 on Steam into Hitman 3 on Epic Games Store,” the studio wrote last August. “It will also be possible for PC players to import locations from the previous two games into Hitman 3 on Epic Games Store. We want to make it a seamless process for our PC players to enjoy Hitman 3 on a different PC platform and continue to enjoy the benefits of our World of Assassination.”

Something has obviously changed in the months since, though it’s not exactly clear what. Epic and IO Interactive did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As Hitman 3 will only be an Epic Games Store exclusive for 12 months, one option players have is to simply wait until it eventually comes to Steam. The other is to simply fork up the discounted cost of buying Hitman 2 again. Both of those kind of suck.