Hitman 3 PC Players Will Have To Buy Hitman 1 & 2 All Over Again, while advertising them as "at no additional cost" for Steam owners.

[maskmcgee]

Summary

IOI, 5 days before launch, published information about the launch of Hitman 3, revelaing for the first time, after preorders started, that while on Xbox and Playstation, users will get their content from Hitman 1 and 2 included in the game for free, PC players will be forced to repurchase those games, while on their website, they continue to blatantly falsely advertise.

 

Quotes

Quote

HITMAN 3 is the best place to play every game in the World of Assassination trilogy. All locations from HITMAN 1 and HITMAN 2 can be imported and played within HITMAN 3 at no additional cost for existing owners – plus progression from HITMAN 2 is directly carried over into HITMAN 3 at launch.

...

In August 2020, IO Interactive said ahead of the start of Hitman 3 preorders that players will be able to import their progression and unlocks from Hitman 2, as well as locations from the previous two games, at no extra charge. "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," the studio promised.

 

My thoughts

Blatant false advertising, while they create a problem which dosen't exist. IOI claim this is "due to various circumstances out of our control". IOI decided to sign an exclusive agreement with Epic and not release on Steam. IOI already have userdata which shows what users have purchased which games but have decided to ignore this in favour of making more money, and waited until after preorders started to disclose the information. Their continued false advertising is clearly in violation of many countries' consumer laws, including the ruthless ACCC.

 

Sources

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/01/pc-players-will-have-to-buy-hitman-2-all-over-again-to-unlock-its-levels-in-hitman-3/

https://www.pcgamer.com/au/hitman-3s-epic-store-exclusivity-means-hitman-2-levels-wont-be-free-after-all/

[Eigenvektor]

One of the reasons you shouldn't pre-order anything and wait for reviews.

[Zodiark1593]

4 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

One of the reasons you shouldn't pre-order anything and wait for reviews.

For most games, isn’t pre-ordering quite redundant anyway, especially with digital copies being a thing? I’d imagine supply of game copies is seldom a problem that one would have to worry about getting ahold of one. 
 

Random personal tidbit time: The only game I’d ever pre-ordered was Pokemon SoulSilver. 

[Kilrah]

2 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

For most games, isn’t pre-ordering quite redundant anyway, especially with digital copies being a thing? I’d imagine supply of game copies is seldom a problem that one would have to worry about getting ahold of one. 

Sure, but publishers know to lure you with pre-order goodies you can't get otherwise or small discounts.

[Master Disaster]

This entire thing is just a mess and only serves to prove exactly why EGS exclusivity is a bad thing. I have Hitman 1 & Hitman 2 on Steam, I'm not going to be buying Hitman 3 until it comes to Steam, why would I want to pay them more money for something I already own?

[Moonzy]

54 minutes ago, maskmcgee said:

while on Xbox and Playstation, users will get their content from Hitman 1 and 2 included in the game for free, PC players will be forced to repurchase those games

another case of developers screwing the PC gaming community, not surprised lul

 

it seems to me like most game devs i know hate PC gamers

[Eigenvektor]

9 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

For most games, isn’t pre-ordering quite redundant anyway, especially with digital copies being a thing? I’d imagine supply of game copies is seldom a problem that one would have to worry about getting ahold of one.

Absolutely. It's not like supplies could run out. At most you might get some "exclusive" pre-order bonuses. And if you're patient enough, in most cases, you can get some GotY edition later on that includes all bonuses, DLC at half the price off.

 

2 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

This entire thing is just a mess and only serves to prove exactly why EGS exclusivity is a bad thing. I have Hitman 1 & Hitman 2 on Steam, I'm not going to be buying Hitman 3 until it comes to Steam, why would I want to pay them more money for something I already own?

Exactly how I did it with Metro 3. I didn't buy until it was available on Steam at half price. It's a single player game. It plays exactly the same way now as it would have back then. So I didn't lose anything, just had to wait some more. In most cases it'll even be better, because bugs got fixed etc.

[WereCatf]

4 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

This entire thing is just a mess and only serves to prove exactly why EGS exclusivity is a bad thing

Would be interesting to see an up-to-date study on whether these exclusivity-deals do actually mean more profits for them or if it's just the big wigs being shortsighted and only going for big short-term numbers. My gut-feeling says they are only staring at the short-term value, but I wouldn't exactly call my guts a neutral party.

[Master Disaster]

Just now, WereCatf said:

Would be interesting to see an up-to-date study on whether these exclusivity-deals do actually mean more profits for them or if it's just the big wigs being shortsighted and only going for big short-term numbers. My gut-feeling says they are only staring at the short-term value, but I wouldn't exactly call my guts a neutral party.

I guess it allows them to inflate this years annual revenue number by getting a lump sum up front but I cannot see how not having your game on the biggest platform available could possibly work out as the better choice in the long run but then, I'm not a business person so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Not sure I'm 100% comfortable discussing your gut but hey, I'm willing to try most things once

[WereCatf]

4 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

It's a single player game. It plays exactly the same way now as it would have back then.

Quite, indeed. Getting in on a game at launch really only matters for multiplayer-games, since they have the most players at launch and the majority of multiplayer-games these days dwindle down to ghost-towns in a month or a couple. We single-player gamers, we are lucky compared to them in the sense that it just simply doesn't matter if we were literally the only player in the entire world still playing a game.

[jagdtigger]

5 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

Would be interesting to see an up-to-date study on whether these exclusivity-deals do actually mean more profits for them or if it's just the big wigs being shortsighted and only going for big short-term numbers. My gut-feeling says they are only staring at the short-term value, but I wouldn't exactly call my guts a neutral party.

Id say they are short sighted AF.... (otherwise they would've dropped DRM schemes because it only frustrates their customers and not pirates)

 

12 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Exactly how I did it with Metro 3. I didn't buy until it was available on Steam at half price. It's a single player game. It plays exactly the same way now as it would have back then.

Same here, and i think there were a ton of ppl  who did the same because the publisher is refusing to dish out PC sales numbers to this day AFAIK......

[Reytime]

This is bad. And to no fault of Epic - IOI been saying that Hitman 2 on Steam would carry over to Hitman 3 on EGS for months.

They should have come forth with the truth from the beginning as they knew something like this would happen. No doubt.

 

I was really looking forward to Hitman 3 as I'm a huge fan of the series since Silence Assassin on the PS2.. but this makes me really think twice about purchasing the new game. This is not how you treat your fan base.

 

I already bought Hitman 1 and 2 twice, on Xbox and later on PC. Am I going to purchase them a 3rd time?

 

This whole world of assassination concept sounded great on paper but is a complete mess in reality. This is not an ongoing live service game that gets patched with new content like an MMO would. They're individual games they try to throw together as one large experience. Didn't work well, IMO.

[RejZoR]

haven't touched Hitman series after they've gone episodic. Doesn't look like it'll change given what the F they are doing wih it. Might replay old ones instead...

[emosun]

And people over here making fun of physical copies , never had to rebuy them.

[Delicieuxz]

Just to clarify, if a person owns Hitman 1 on EGS, or if they don't but they buy Hitman 3 on EGS within 10 days of its launch, they'll get Hitman 1's content for free in EGS Hitman 3.

Quote

– PC (Epic): If you pre-purchase or purchase HITMAN 3 on EGS within the first 10 days of launch, you will be granted the HITMAN 1 GOTY Access Pass for no additional charge. In addition, if you own or redeemed a free copy of HITMAN – The Complete First Season on EGS when it was available for free, you will be able to download this Access Pass at any time after purchasing HITMAN 3.

 

While the Hitman 2 content will be 80% off on EGS for the first 2 weeks after Hitman releases.

Quote

– PC (Epic): 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.

 

So far, EGS hasn't done any permanent exclusivity deals. So, my guess is that if people wait 6 months to a year to get the game on Steam they will be able to add the Hitman 1 and 2 content for free, if they already own it on Steam.

[maskmcgee]

Now Tim Sweeny's involved

 

 

[Reytime]

Is this new? From the EGS Hitman 3 store page:

 

Quote

LIMITED TIME BONUS AVAILABLE:

Pre-purchase or purchase HITMAN 3 within the first 10 days of launch and receive the HITMAN 1 GOTY Edition Access Pass DLC for FREE. Available until January 30th @ 2 PM CET / 8 AM ET. Carry over your HITMAN 2 progress from other PC platforms to start HITMAN 3 with your existing player profile, XP, location mastery progress, and more.

 

Does this now mean we do get the Hitman 2 levels in 3 or is this just referring to previously unlocked rewards? :/

[maskmcgee]

1 hour ago, Reytime said:

 

Does this now mean we do get the Hitman 2 levels in 3 or is this just referring to previously unlocked rewards?

No, that's always been there, the Hitman 1 and 2 levels will be there if you buy them again. 

[samcool55]

wtf is going on man, why can somehow no AAA launch go as it should be?

There's always something. The cyberpunk disaster was barely a month ago and now we get another disaster...

[kuddlesworth9419]

Unless you are a filthy pirate like I am in which case I will get it all for free. Paid customers are suckers.

[JZStudios]

I'm confused by the problem. Why is launching Hitman 1 and 2 through 3 such a big deal? I'm willing to bet it's the exact same game just a different launcher.

[maskmcgee]

2 hours ago, JZStudios said:

I'm confused by the problem. Why is launching Hitman 1 and 2 through 3 such a big deal? I'm willing to bet it's the exact same game just a different launcher.

It's not, the levels are remastered, use new gameplay elements and items.

 

 

[maskmcgee]

IoI have apparently fixed the problem, but whatever it is will not be available at launch. 

 

https://twitter.com/IOInteractive/status/1350899132966318084

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

 

Yes, yes you are. 
Also 

 

 

https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/epic-exclusive-division-2-used-steam-community-for-lfg-posts

[trag1c]

On 1/16/2021 at 1:09 AM, Zodiark1593 said:

For most games, isn’t pre-ordering quite redundant anyway, especially with digital copies being a thing? I’d imagine supply of game copies is seldom a problem that one would have to worry about getting ahold of one. 
 

Random personal tidbit time: The only game I’d ever pre-ordered was Pokemon SoulSilver. 

For the most part I would agree, the only point to digital preorders is whatever content or extras they bundle with it. With that said I preordered Mech Warrior 5 because the preorder came with enough stuff for Mech Warrior Online that it made it a good deal regardless if MW5 was trash or not. Unfortunately though the vast majority of titles don't carry enough goodies with them to justify the risk of a preorder.