5 Years Later, Hitman 3 Has Become One of the Best Live-Service Games

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Ironically, Hitman 3 was able to see such success because it didn’t follow any one game’s lead. By being a single-player-focused stealth game, it’s already in a league of its own. It’s not a battle royale or an extraction shooter, but something with its own distinct style developer IO Interactive has honed over decades. It has something to offer that no other game can. And that uniqueness is vital in the live-service space because if a developer is trying to directly unseat a genre king, then it has to be better than that royal game. The better (and more interesting) option is just competing in your own space.

IO Interactive further shifted from the norm by taking the unprecedented step of bundling the latest Hitman trilogy together in one package for no extra cost. It was a stunning, player-centric move that went against the grain. So many live-service games — even the premium ones — just seem like modified slot machines that are constantly trying to squeeze cash out of players, so giving away two full games is quite a way to buck that discouraging trend.

Hitman 3 Has Only Grown

Image COurtesy IO Interactive

Hitman 3 also continued to grow in ways that would diverge from the typical live-service model. There were small bits of premium DLC, but those didn’t take up the bulk of the experience. Instead, the contracts, seasonal events, and Elusive Targets were the focus. While seemingly small additions, these benefit Hitman greatly because they highlight the variability that makes this series such a blast. Twisting the rules and adding new modifiers doesn’t get old because of the sandbox invites experimentation and these variations bring exactly that.

The Elusive Targets remain the flashiest additions and have only gotten more flashy with the implementation of even more famous actors. IO Interactive has added Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Lee (who, in a twist, has to be protected), Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre from Casino Royale, and Eminem over the last couple years, while Milla Jovovich is waiting in the wings to join next time around. These are often elaborate sets that play to the character’s personality and make for a solid, cheeky way to break up the pace of the more standard targets. These more standard targets are still a ride because they force players to lock in, but it’s hard to deny the star power the celebrities bring to the game. Elusive Target Arcade is a great tweak on this formula, too, as it allows players to practice these special hits but with a less severe punishment for failure.

Hitman’s New Modes Have Been Fantastic

Image COurtesy IO Interactive

Contracts and various Elusive Targets can sustain Hitman, but its two big modes — VR and Freelancer — have allowed this game to truly ascend. Hitman and VR, admittedly, had a rough go in the early days. The PSVR, PC, and Quest versions all released at different times and were all derided for their wonky controls or crappy visuals (or both).

IO didn’t get the hang of VR until the PSVR2 add-on that came out in 2025 where the team finally iterated enough and realized how to adapt its premier franchise to the new medium. The game finally had solid visuals and the intuitive controls it deserved all along. Throwing fire extinguishers with pinpoint accuracy or choking out an unsuspecting guard were both improved in virtual reality and allowed for a sense of immersion that was previously out of reach. Thankfully, IO went back and enhanced the PC VR version, meaning more players could get in on this transformative way to play the game.

Freelancer was the other big notable mode and turned Hitman into a roguelike. Hitman is naturally predisposed for this genre because roguelikes thrive on variables. If a game is going to repeat itself, it needs to shuffle its parts around enough to disguise its repetition.

And Hitman does this splendidly with its massive library of tools, possible targets, maps, and added challenges that ensure a rewarding level of unpredictability. Dying also has stakes since kicking the bucket means losing money, gear, and progress, meaning the tension from the Elusive Targets lives on here but in a different form. Being able to build up and furnish a base, compile an arsenal, and go on various missions gives this mode long legs and, in a way, feels like the purest version of Hitman. IO even later made this mode playable in VR, which gives this infinitely replayable mode even more juice.

It didn’t always look like Hitman 3 was going to succeed. It had a troubled launch because of its initial Epic Games Store exclusivity on PC and the troubles that deal brought revolving around access to prior Hitman games. It also didn’t help that IO sold DLC quickly after launch that wasn’t included in the more expensive editions. But a free map, additional modes, and a Steam launch put the team on a better track and let the brilliant game beneath those shaky business decisions shine. It’s still one of the best stealth games out there with enough replayability to last for a long, long time. There’s nothing quite like it, and that’s a key reason why it’s been able to stick around for five years and why it’ll probably stick around for many more.

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