On January 31st, we will release HITMAN - The Complete First Season on a physical disc. On the same date, we will release our January Update, which is mandatory for all players and includes improvements across the board, including a new difficulty level, HDR support and many features or improvements that were requested by our community. Thanks for your continued support and for providing us with feedback.
As well as the physical disc release of the game, there are a few other items that will be released or made available for purchase on January 31st 2017.
- Our 3rd bonus mission, 'Landslide' will be released at no extra cost for owners of The Complete First Season / Upgrade Pack.
- The 'Original Soundtrack' and 'Making Of Documentary' will be made available for all players. After downloading the January Update, follow the in-game instructions (top-left tile of the 'Featured' Hub) to link your profile to the Square Enix Members service, as this is how the content will be made available. Steam players will see both items added to their accounts automatically.
- The 'HITMAN - Requiem Blood Money Pack' will be made available for individual purchase, after previously being given to all players who pre-ordered the game. This pack includes 3 in-game items; 'Legacy Requiem Suit', 'Silenced ICA-19 Chrome pistol' and the 'Pale Duck' explosive item. As per the above image, this pack is also included with the SteelBook Edition of the game.
For players who prefer to purchase individual episodes with the Intro Pack:
- The 'Bonus Episode' (formerly called Summer Bonus Episode) will be made available for individual purchase. The Bonus Episode includes 3 bonus missions: 'The Icon', 'A House Built on Sand' and 'Landslide'. Pricing will vary according to region, but will closely match the established cost of an individual episode.
Here are the release notes for our January Update, also known as 1.9.0 as per the in-game menu.
January Update Release Timings
The HITMAN January Update releases worldwide across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC on January 31st 2017.
The update will be available at approximately 12:00 UTC and there will be a short maintenance period either side of that to support the release of this new content. Updates on the maintenance period will be posted via the
official HITMAN Twitter account. We expect the download size for the January Update to be 1.8GB on PS4, 8.1GB on Xbox One and 2GB on PC.
Please note: The January Update is required in order to access the Professional Difficulty Level, the Landslide Bonus Mission and all of the changes noted below. Also, the 'Bonus Episode' and the 'HITMAN - Requiem Blood Money Pack' are scheduled to be made available for individual purchase at the same time as the update.
January Update Release Notes
Bonus Mission: Landslide Overview
- New Bonus Mission: Landslide (Sapienza)
- 5 new Guided Opportunities for “Landslide"
- 1 new weapon/gear unlock (earned through challenges)
- The Big One
- 35+ Landslide-specific challenges
- 3 new trophies/achievements for Landslide
For details of the two other Bonus Missions, first released in July 2016,
see the release notes.
General Improvements
Professional Difficulty Level
We've added an entirely new difficulty level: Professional.
Professional Difficulty Level offers extended replayability, new game features, a separate mastery track with unique rewards, tweaked game mechanics and new AI behaviour that combine to create an entirely new experience for all players. For full details on this exciting new addition, take a look at our
dedicated blog post.
Bonus Mission: Landslide
The January Update enables access to the third Bonus Mission, Landslide, for owners of the Complete First Season or Upgrade Pack.
Landslide is also available through the 'Bonus Episode', which is now being sold individually on all platforms and includes all three Bonus Missions.
Improved Menu Navigation
We've made it easier to navigate between all the content in game and get to where you want to be faster.
HDR Support
If you've got the right TV, HITMAN will now offer HDR support on PS4, PS4 Pro, Xbox One S and PC.
*See below for more details relating to HDR Support on PC.
Contract Favourites
We've added functionality that will allow you to add any created Contract to 'My Favorites', allowing you to easily find the Contracts you have enjoyed the most.
Modified Attention Gain Modifiers
We have adjusted the attention gain modifiers so that instead of NPCs instantly focusing on 47 when the attention gain starts, a threshold has been introduced to give a window of opportunity in which to hide. This change reduces the times where briefly entering an NPCs peripheral vision would cause the player to become spotted.
Illegal Item Warnings
We've added an exclamation mark status to suspicious or illegal items, so that players know whether picking them up in front of an NPC will cause a reaction. This is similar to the status indicator that is shown before performing an action.
On-screen Mission Timer
We've added an option to the 'Gameplay' menu that will allow you to display an on-screen Mission Timer to keep track of the mission playthrough time. The Timer will be restarted when the contract is restarted or replanned but will continue from when a save game is loaded. The Mission Timer is a separate HUD option that is toggled independently. This option is designed for competitive play.
Disable Autosaves
We've added an option to the 'Gameplay' menu that will allow you to turn off autosaves. Manual saves will still be available. Autosaves will be set to 'on' by default.
Added Colorado 'Hidden Hand' cutscene to the 'Story' Menu
The Colorado 'Hidden Hand' cut-scene has been added to the 'Story' Menu. This description is purposefully vague to avoid any possible spoilers.
Notebook Improvements for Contract Creation
When creating a contract, the 'notebook' page now shows the cause of death and used disguise for marked and eliminated targets.
Contract History Filter
In the 'Contracts History' menu, you can now filter the Contracts between 'All', 'Completed' and 'Failed'.
Contracts Search Improvements
We've added more options to the Contracts Search menu. You can now select from four 'Disguise' options. You can also select 'Any method' for how the target was killed.
Get Your Suits In Order
We've revised the order that suits are shown in the menus to make them more consistent and logical across all locations.
Loadout Details
The Loadout screen now displays the amount of each item that will be equipped. For example "x3" is displayed on the icon for coins, because you will have 3 coins.
Pistol-kill Sound Effect
With a previous update, we introduced a subtle sound effect that played with a pistol kill. Based on player feedback, we've removed the high-pitched part of this sound effect.
Loud Disguises
We have fixed an issue that made some disguises extremely loud, particularly those with additional cloth such as a chef's apron.
Option to Adjust Subtitle Size
We've added an option to the 'Language' menu that will allow you to choose the exact size of the subtitles.
Choose Settings at Start-up
We've added a one-time boot screen that allows you to select graphics options, such as HDR, and language/audio options when you initially launch the game. These options can later be found in the Options menu.
Escalation Contract Images
We've updated some of the objective/complication images for Escalation Contracts to give them a unified style.
Brightness Adjust Settings
When you're changing settings such as brightness in-game, we've removed the menu so you can see exactly how the changes will look during gameplay.
Pull an Enemy, Part 3.
In this update, we've (finally) 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. Anyone who sees this will react accordingly.
Fixed Issues
Paris
- Fixed an issue where zooming with the Sieger 300 could result in rendering issues
- Multiple improvements to 'Holiday Hoarders', such as target pathing, texture streaming and NPC reactions
- Fixed an issue where 47 could vault through a window on the 2nd floor, but cannot re-enter
- Fixed issues where the routines of key NPC's can be suspended depending on 47's actions
Sapienza
- Fixed an issue where items dropped by certain characters would drop at 47's feet, regardless of the distance between them
- Fixed an issue where the dialogue from a guard in the wine cellar could be difficult to hear when standing in a specific place
- Fixed two issues that could cause inconsistencies in the 'Time to Meet The Fans' opportunity in The Icon
- Removed small, invisible pieces of cover on the stairs in the streets and the stairs behind the church
- Fixed an issue where NPCs could walk through a specific table in the Church
- Fixed an issue where Ether sure is ramping up security around here
Marrakesh
- Fixed an issue with environment art in the security room
- Fixed an issue that could cause the 'Waiting For The Man' opportunity to fail
- Fixed an issue that could cause a guard to clip through a wall on the ground floor of the Embassy when alerted
- Adjusted the trespassing rules for the Printing Crew disguise to include the secret tunnel
Bangkok
- Fixed an issue that could cause Room Service staff to not leave 47's room
- Fixed a few issues with inconsistent lighting inside the hotel
- Fixed an issue where some doors appear to be transparent when viewed from a distance
- Fixed a few issues that could cause either Ken Morgan or Jordan Cross to suspend their routines
Colorado
- Fixed an issue that could prevent the 'Mission Complete' trophy/achievment from unlocking
- Fixed an issue where Sean Rose or Penelope Graves could suspend their routines
- Fixed an issue where some guards would not escort 47 to the nearest trespassing exit
Hokkaido
- Fixed an issue where 47 would leave footprints in the snow below when scaling ledges
- Fixed an issue that could cause physics issues on the clothes of specific NPCs
- Fixed an issue where resort staff dialogue did not match their gender
- Fixed an issue where some ambient audio would not play in the morgue
- Fixed an issue that could prevent the 'Sayonara' trophy/achievement from unlocking
- Fixed an issue where a doctor in the operating room may notice a crime in the morgue, due to level geometry set-up
General
- Fixed multiple issues that could lead to instability and crashes
- Fixed issues that could cause Diana's dialogue to overlap or be missing entirely
- Fixed multiple issues with various Opportunities on all locations
- Fixed multiple issues with 'clipping' on all locations
- Fixed an issue where Location Mastery was not displayed on the Destination, Mastery and Debriefing menus
- Updated the text on the in-game 'Intel' menu to make it clear how to acquire Intel
- Improved stability of multiple opportunities and actions when saving/loading at specific times
- Fixed an issue where the red 'hit-marker' would appear on-screen after using the 'Eliminate' kill with a pistol
- Fixed an issue that could cause the audible beep from fire alarms to continuously loop
- Fixed multiple examples of interactable objects in multiple locations not being highlighted in Instinct
- Improved consistency of the Challenge Pack descriptions
- Fixed an issue that could cause game sound to momentarily stutter
PC-Specific Issues
- Fixed an issue where using a Radeon R9 card and DX11 could result in Texture Quality not changing from "Low"
- Fixed an issue where the primary monitor would always be selected when applying default settings with Exclusive Fullscreen and default resolution
HDR Support Notes (PC)
- Exclusive fullscreen is required to use HDR on PC for both DirectX 11 and DirectX 12
- Nvidia cards currently won't switch the TV into HDR mode in DirectX 12. Please use DirectX 11 until this issue is resolved
- If you encounter problems with the TV not switching into HDR mode, try disconnecting all monitors except the TV
- Please note that 4K@60hz 10/12 bpc RGB is not supported by the HDMI 2.0 standard. Instead, if 4K@60hz is desired, 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 chroma subsampled output can be configured via the control panel provided by the graphics card vendor
Known Issues
- Adjusting the 'Master Volume' option has no effect on the VO of Diana or NPCs. This will be fixed in a future update
What's Next?
- The current Elusive Target, The Blackmailer, is in Paris until Monday Feburary 6th at 2pm CET.
- Later this week, we will publish the 'February Content Schedule' to let all players know what is being added to HITMAN throughout the month.
- The next Elusive Target will be the first one in Hokkaido, and the first opportunity for all players to unlock the White Yukata. Stay tuned to the blog for more info on that soon.
