The next Hitman game is 'well under way'

Hitman 2 has been subject to countless updates since its release last November, but it looks like IO Interactive is moving most of its resources on to the next major installment in the series. In a new November roadmap published today, the company said that it's "looking increasingly to the future". Which means that "in real terms, we're moving more and more of the Hitman 2 team to join the next Hitman game, which is well underway."

This is good news for Hitman fans, who might have feared that IO Interactive's forthcoming non-Hitman game—which will be published by Warner Bros—could signal a long break in Agent 47's bloody career. While the Warner Bros published game hasn't been thoroughly detailed, it did come with the sentiment that the studio wants to explore "new universes, new franchises"—Hitman is neither.

While Hitman 2 won't get new missions, there's still a wealth of Featured Contracts coming, as well as the addition of Community-curated Contracts. Some Seasonal Content—the announcement doesn't specify which—will be added to the game permanently, and there's a new Escalation and Elusive Contract coming in December.

So the game is still "living", in other words, but probably to a lesser extent than we've seen throughout 2019. For the full IO Interactive statement, as well as a round-up of new November content, it's worth reading the roadmap for yourself.

In case it wasn't very obvious, Hitman 2 is a very good game. "Essentially more of its predecessor but with a more consistent quality of levels," Phil Savage wrote in his Hitman 2 review, adding that this is a very good thing.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.