Hitman is almost here! In fact, he might be hiding in your closet right now. Or at least some of him might be. The first episode of the game is due out on March 11, which is—gasp!—tomorrow. Further episodes and content updates will follow throughout 2016, after which it will all be collected up and released in a disc-based edition. But it's going to take a little bit longer than expected for that to hit the shelves: Developer IO Interactive has told Videogamer that the old fashioned disc-in-a-box won't be out until early 2017.
"This year is all about delivering the best episodic experience for Hitman and that takes us to Autumn/Fall," the studio said. "Releasing the disc version in January just makes sure we have enough time after the season concludes to dedicate to getting the best disc version of the game out."
It's not a huge delay, nor a particularly precise one, since the physical release of Hitman was only slated for sometime near the end of this year anyway. And really, if you were willing to wait through almost a full year of digital releases before snapping up the DVD, then what's another month?
Hitman will go live globally on Steam at 9:01 am PST. Our full review of the first episode won't be up until March 14, but we do have some early impressions you might find interesting: Tom Senior notes that the game is “a lot cleaner” visually than its predecessor, Hitman: Absolution, while Phil spends some quality time working through some issues with a guard's face.
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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.
