Hitman Devs Hope Its Episodic Gameplay Makes Players Stop and Smell the Replay Roses

Twinfinite: The latest Hitman game is treading the triple-A road less taken, fragmenting its typically solo narrative into a series of episodic releases. With its seventh and final chapter launching October 31, the game experience has now stretched over the course of seven months. It’s a process that leaves players waiting, and some days, they’ll have nothing to do but turn back to previous chapters. After talking to Hitman lead writer Michael Vogt, that seems to be just what developer IO Interactive wants.

[-Foxtrot]

No

Just do a full game and stop with the episode crap. Most of us replay a game anyway

[Erik7357]

They are doing a full game, it's just not done and they give players the Liberty to get portions of it early? Like I'm waiting till there are a bunch of levels then I'm buying it. You will have a full game at one point and you won't have to deal with that "episode crap".

Square enix knows there are fans who want the game now so they came up with a model like this to allow those players to play it early at a cost of paying 70-80 dollars in total if YOUR STUPID enough to buy it in episodic format.

[_-EDMIX-_]

That's technically still happening the beginning of next year.

Is there a reason why they can't do both? No one's forcing you to play it before its final release.

[2pacalypsenow]

Still waiting for the full physical release

[Erik7357]

Exactly, I don't understand the hate when we all know it will be a full game at one point....
I even like the episodic format because it gives the developers time to learn what players want and polish upcoming levels and by the time it's a full game it will be great and I will buy it.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Completely agreed.

it also gives the developers time to Simply focus on making every part of the game absolutely good and let it stand alone as a separate piece of content because we all know those games where there's a couple segments that are just boring or just not as good as certain parts and I personally believe every part of the game should be good enough to Warrant a separate purchase.

I don't see this format hurting anyone and in fact I think it's a great idea because it allows those that want to play it before release to have something to do and it also allows the people that play the final version to have a very well-made title.

[DillyDilly]

Hopefully this backfired on them & the sales suffered because of them going episodic

[_-EDMIX-_]

Why?

[DillyDilly]

If the devs think going episodic are gonna hurt the fans well the fans will hurt them worse therefore these devs never doing episodic games again

[_-EDMIX-_]

@theRandom- but the final game is actually still coming so I'm still not really sure what you're talking about hurting fans are saying that they need to get this game in the episode of format?

That's like saying you hate shows like The Walking Dead Or Grey's Anatomy because they show episodes every week yet you're ignoring that they also released box sets that you could clearly choose to watch in their entirety.

I'm still not fully understanding how this is hurting any one of their fans did you seriously not know that they're still actually releasing a final version with all the episodes already in it?

At the end of the day options are nice and if someone chooses to play this episodically that's their choice, if they choose to wait for the final version that still their choice , if they choose to rent it that's their choice, if they buy the disc that's their choice , if they downloaded that's their choice, at what point do you not understand that the options are not hurting you?

If anything they're just giving more options for consumers to choose how they decide to play their games, I for instance enjoy playing The Walking Dead games as they release simply because I really enjoy the series but that's my choice to play that way if I want to play my games in parts, its my choice to do so, nothing's actually stopping me from just stopping and waiting until it's finished and playing it in a couple sittings.

I'm sorry but no users on here have even given a real valid logical reason for why this company should not have an option for episodic, you're basically crying over someone else's choice to play a game in a format that you don't like even though you're actually still getting the final game the beginning of next year.

That's like me getting angry at Redbox and other rental services simply because I don't like to rent.

Car rentals hurting fans? An option to play a game a certain way is hurting someone? Even though the option to play it the way they want to actually still exist?

Oh please, sit down with that stupid self-centered idiotic first world problem issue it's so melodramatic and immature it's not even funny.

Cry me a river bud. No one's putting a gun to your head and telling you to purchase all these episodes..

[Captain_Mushroom]

thankfully, it hasn't, they said so themselves, so go cry somewhere else

[ion666]

game is already outdated. by the time this game comes to disc they could've started a new hitman.

[_-EDMIX-_]

???

How?

How do you know that the final game that's coming out in the beginning of next year is technically the time frame it was always going to technically release? You're technically not getting a Hitman game later or simply getting a Hitman game earlier in different segments yet getting the final version probably the same time you are always going to get it.

For example if Konami decided to release Metal Gear Solid 5 in the parts in which the game was already completed and it would still release at the same time it was going to release as a final game simply because all they're doing is releasing it earlier with the parts that are already actually complete so I'm not entirely sure what you're talking about I think you're assuming that they're delaying the game to do this and all the parts are already finished or something and that's not really the case because it doesn't actually even make any sense , why would a company have all the parts to a game yet decided not to release it despite knowing that they would be losing money on a product that clearly exist to be sold?

Please help me understand that logic because it actually makes more sense to release parts of the game as they're working on it as opposed to waiting on something that's finished in fact that would suggest they're wasting more money than their earning..

Also how do you know that the team that does the pre-production hasn't already started a hit man? The team that does the finishing touches is actually not the same part of the team that works on pre-production for example the writers and the artists and the people who create the concept stuff for those games don't just continue to work up until the final day of release they actually stop working sometimes a year or even two years before the games release simply because the actual design the engine the programming and all those things in the game are actually being worked on much longer than the initial concept if you know about game design you know that the people are working on the first parts of the game do not continuously work on it until the very ending of the games release so it's extremely likely that they've already started on another Hitman game in are probably deep into its development in regards to design.

[eldingo]

curious question since i see you do this alot why do you write paragraph upon paragraph in a rebuttal to what is so blatantly and obviously somebody wanting to drop a one sentence diatribe against a game due to the way its content has been released in chunks and them not liking it or wanting to debate with anyone on it are you just that emotionally involved in arguing or what?

I know that stereotype that people who debate in comment sections are just wasting their time doing so is one i consider fucking stupid but i actually do genuinely subscribe to the idea that examples like you are why such a thing exists in the first place its baffling stop being such a fucking pedant man.

[ion666]

Damn you took it deep. Eldingo you are right about what I was saying. I guess these guys bought the game and had to wait months on end to play portions of a game. Relax dudes I really like the Hitman games. lol

[ion666]

All though when a successful game is finished they do start with a sequel right after if not a new i.p. like rockstar. Back to back,first it was gta4 then red dead 1 then gta5 now red dead 2. So your telling me they couldn't have started a new game after a full release of a new hitman game comes out? They should have released the whole game at once. I personally don't like waiting for level 2 when I pay full price for a game but that's just me. I've already moved on to next big game. there is absolutely no hype for the disc version of this game its incredible. Please let me know if i'm wrong

[_-EDMIX-_]

ion-

"They should have released the whole game at once. I personally don't like waiting for level 2"

They actually are where did you hear they weren't? They're releasing this as a final game the beginning of next year if you actually feel like playing it that way.

If you don't feel like playing it part by part the solution is pretty simple wait for its actual final released the beginning of next year.

"there is absolutely no hype for the disc version of this game its incredible. Please let me know if i'm wrong"

I'm not entirely sure what you mean how could you be wrong based on the subjective opinion? There is no right, there is no wrong.

Also why does it matter if it has hype or not? Exactly why would you even be playing the final release based on excitement by other people? At the end of the day you're playing a game to get something in regards to enjoyment, I don't fully understand how somebody else playing the game in Parts before you somehow lowers your excitement because it begs the question exactly why you were looking to play it in the first place, because somebody else was playing at prior to you?

The solution to this is extremely simple, buy the game in the format you want to play it if you want to play it as a final thing on one disc no one's really stopping you.

I'm still baffled that what's being disputed are options that some consumers choose not to use which is even stranger because you're basically questioning an option but you don't need to use even though the option that you prefer actually still exists the beginning of next year.

That's like me going on a rant saying how much I hate rentals or I hate game downloads yet disregard that I don't need to rent and that I could still purchase the game on disc at the end of the day what does somebody else playing the game in a different format even have to do with you?

Some people like to watch shows every week some people like to wait till the season's over and binge-watch all that is consumer option in consumer Choice my only argument is is there a reason why we cannot have both? What does 1 format have to even do with the other if you choose to go a different route? If you enjoy watching something in one sitting that's completely up to you but how on Earth is it releasing every week harming you?

Both options could coexist and I'm completely fine with this.

I'm not begging you to like this format but I am saying the thing you actually desire and want still is being released the beginning of next year.

Those who want to play it episode by episode get what they want and you ultimately still get what you want I don't see a reason to even debate or dispute such a thing simply because both parties are still getting what they want.

[eldingo]

The decision to go the route of episodic for Hitman is baffling it doesn't benefit the game in anyway i can glean from looking at it along with the online connection portion of it fucking with you if your internet gets disconnected.

The whole episodic thing online thing for hitman in particular has always come across as arbitrary and detrimental to the kind of game it is players who like the hitman series already from the older games replayed them alot already without the game being episodic since each level allowed you a breadth of gameplay options to carry out your contract and get away stealthily or not.

I think the thing i enjoy the most from these articles is how much pr spin the devs say about these kinds of decisions as if the way this game has been doled out hasn't been polarizing as fuck for alot of people I always wonder if they are given a script for these kinds of things or if they truly believe in this kind of chicanery if its the latter then it just makes me want game development to be a more open and transparent practice even more because examining where things went from bad to fucked has always been something i wanted for games i thought had potential but ended up a fucking dumpster fire this game isn't that but the decision to go episodic hurts it in so many ways.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Episodic actually benefits them and huge waves and I'm sorry but your bias is Extreme especially considering you never even entertained the idea of how it could benefit them instead you just stated that it did it and continued on a rant.

The community gets The Voice what they believe is right and wrong about the game allowing them to change dynamically what they're doing and other episodes which directly actually affects the very final game so even if you're not going to play this game episodic Lee the people who are landing in their support is helping you with the final product.

They're earning more money which allows them to complete the game at a faster rate than if they never actually do this.

So right there there's also extremely valid points on why this should go episodic especially considering this format fits the Hitman concept well.

Also who's putting the gun to your head and telling you to purchase it this way? Do you not know they're releasing this on disk and the beginning of next year? So put it this way you could completely ignore this version and simply get the final version how on Earth does that even affect you if you purchase it next year? Let's say for example if they release Horizon zero Dawn in parts right now if they felt like it if I decide I want to play it as one big final thing on desk that's my choice to do so how it was released prior has no Dawning to me it does not affect me in any way shape or form in fact I played several games that were episodic as just one final thing on disc and had no problem doing so.

How they released before my purchase is irrelevant to me.

Do you think someone else halfway across the world renting a game on Redbox is somehow killing you? Why don't you just focus on playing games the way you feel like playing them as opposed to getting upset that someone else is playing it a different way I still don't understand the issue people have what episodic games especially considering the majority of them always release with a disc based version when it's completed anyway.

[eldingo]

Alright allow me to address this point by point

1.What bias do i have exactly when i read the steam reviews what i parrot is the exact same sentiment that I share that most people have in the negative reviews along with even some of the positive reviews that while its a good game it would have been better if it had been released as a full game with every level done at once along with not having having a required online connection to play the game which would have prevented many people from both failing missions and losing progress when the internet connection they have gets fucked by unfortunate circumstance.

2.How much quantifiable input from the community has actually changed the development if any at all and can you show me documentation and acknowledgement from the devs on what the community helped shape specifically I.E proof of this claim

3.Can you show me the actual sales numbers for this game and past examples that a single player game having an arbitrary internet connection along with being episodic benefitting it being a pseudo open level stealth game and no tell tale games don't count in this context the games they make are heavily story based and tailored around its episodic nature whereas Hitman flip flopped from being a game completed at launch to episodic multiple times.

4.Give me definitive proof that the previous claims you have made are better for the hitman series than the previous entries that were complete content wise at launch and sold well (save for absolution since it was just pretty garbage).

5.i remember countering an argument you had with somebody who didn't like microtransactions along with stating we could never know what was content cut from the main game and what was made after the fact and im going to repeat the crux of my point from that previous comment I don't need to buy something to realize and also understand that doing so is a bad idea due to it being an overall bad practice that is detrimental to the game and the players experience of said game.

6.congratz on stating your opinion proudly on the internet im proud of you mang.

7.Again i refer to point 5 of my rebuttal if you wanna use hyperbole fine but know it is irrelevant to the current discussion at hand and you are inflating your comment pointlessly you seem to have the same problem that many other people have with me when i voice my opinion of a bad practice or point out flaws in a game which makes them think i consider it to be a bad game based on that alone my intention is not to ruin or judge somebody elses experience with a game that we both played but voice my criticism of just the games flaws the developers unfortunately shipped their game with either unintentionally or not.

[_-EDMIX-_]

"while its a good game it would have been better if it had been released as a full game with every level done at once"

It would have been better to have 0 users able to address the issues during its development? Ummmm sure.

you could wait until it's final release no one's forcing you to play it like this.

"How much quantifiable input from the community has actually changed the development if any at all and can you show me"

I don't work for the game developer, I'm pretty positive any of the issues that consumers are bringing up about each episode is likely altering the next episodes that release.

how much input is a community giving if the game never releases in any form prior to its original final release?

So your only issue is you're unaware of the games full development? How many games do you know where the team is telling you every last thing in the first place? Lol dumb excuse bud, just because they didn't say it doesn't mean it's not happening.

"Can you show me the actual sales numbers for this game "

irrelevant any sales of this game is better than nothing prior to its release...

It's getting money right now vs. Getting nothing. sorry but it's for a fact contributing to the development that otherwise would have not been paid for by the community prior to release.

"Give me definitive proof that the previous claims you have made are better for the hitman series than the previous entries that were complete content wise at launch"

Community input of the episodic content is better than absolutely nothing before release.

The game is releasing in final form next year for you to play it...

why are you crying? Lol

The simplest solution to this is don't play it episodically, no one's forcing you, it's releasing in a final form the beginning of next year as to why you're upset people are choosing to play it in another format is beyond me, no one's forcing you to play it this way.

If the team heard a wealth of response from each episode in changed even one thing it still means it's better than had they had released it with zero input by the community with 1 release.

Do you have a list of reasons why rentals are bad for gaming regarding the experience despite not even using rental services?

It's extremely simple, don't play it this way and wait till the final release I'm sure you'll live bud.

First world problems smh.

[eldingo]

Yeah so basically continually be a Tool without adressing any of my questions or counter points with evidence and then still use hyperbolic insults in an attempt to steer the discussion away from whether this is good for the game or not or whether any of your claims have any grounds in reality while cherry picking only parts of my rebuttal to still not address with real proof just more claims of im right your a wrong I can see why you usually get tons of disagrees these long replies of yours aren't about having a discussion for you it's about I'm right in my assertion and your wrong all the time.

I have clearly wasted my time here trying to have this discussion with you and I will make sure to avoid any with you in the future until you actually address points with actual evidence instead of saying this method of development and distribution of the game is DEFINITIVELY better cause i say so which means IM RIGHT and your wrong.

Continue to be a pedantic tool who cherry picks what he responds to out of the context of the full question its attached to so he can try to justify his own opinion and talk away any dissenting opinion somebody might have on a game without ever really addressing my rebuttal with evidence like i requested you say these things are better but i want proof which you have refused to give me and instead you have doubled down with the pointless i'm right and your just a whiner reply.

I'm open to being wrong about something but i want proof that i'm wrong instead of I'm right and your just a whiner thats what your most recent reply boils down to I see now why people downvote your comments immediately most of the time It's because you can't back your shit up with evidence.

You remind me of the nintendo fanboys i argued with a month or two ago cherry picking what you want to respond to whether its in full context of the question or not and hurling insults instead of trying to have a reasonable rational discussion bout whether the merits outweigh the negatives of something the difference being your not shilling and fanboying for nintendo but instead practices like microtransactionsm season passes and a single player game that is now required to have a always online internet connection to play the game along with its content being episodic and you know every practice done in premium games under the sun that try to get as much money from people as possible.

If i got anything from this conversation its that trying to debate you is pointless since you never want one,instead you just want to go haha im right and your just a whiner the kind of thing somebody says instead of arguing their point when they have run out of steam and want to end with a lol gotcha moment because why back anything up with rational thought and hard evidence when you can just say lol no ur wrong and im right hyuck hyuck.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@eld- that's the thing you haven't provided any evidence that it's a bad thing.

Whether you think it's bad or not it's actually subjective it is not something thats objective.

At the end of the day the company is getting money during the game's development, the fans are getting the choice whether or not they feel like playing the game in parts , the fans are all still getting an option to purchase it the beginning of next year as a final product , which means that you could have ignored everything that was happening and just purchased it as a final product and you still would have got a better product because of the fans purchasing the episodes, which speeds up the development, which also gives them insight into what fans want from the game, which at the end of the day still ultimately helps you in the beginning of next year.

I think you're way too emotional to truly understand what is happening, stop worrying about how other people buy their games, you're still getting this as a final product , as to how other people are playing it affects you is actually pretty irrelevant, you think me renting games is killing you?

You think me downloading games is killing you?

You still get to purchase it as a disk, you still get to choose to play it in its entirety by your choice, no one's actually putting a gun to your head and forcing you to play an episodically.

Your latest post has almost nothing to actually even do with the subject it's just being emotionally salty and upset because of what I'm saying this has nothing to actually do with the topic , it just has more so to do with you not liking the person telling you what this is and at the end of the day you still can't address that is the choice of the user , no one's forcing you to play this in this way.

I've never seen someone so emotionally distressed because of a choice and an option they don't even need to partake in, at what part do you not understand you're still getting a final thing next year? You're telling me you're mad you got parts of the game early? You're upset that users are giving insite that actually helps the development?

Lol ummmm ok.

I'm not even sure how there's anything to debate when did they remove the choice of you purchasing this as a final version?

What I'm saying is a fact the fact of the matter is they are releasing it as a final version..

So exactly what are you disputing? You're fighting over Choice? It be better if we had less Choice?

That's amazing tell me how you're doing with that ridiculous concept.

Name-calling is not going to help you..... that doesn't actually address why you're upset at options that you don't even need to partake in

[P_Bomb]

I've enjoyed it, it's become something I look forward to each month or so. Season finale on Oct31 comes just as I've had my fill. It's been an experiment that I have to say, worked.

At its core the Hitman franchise (not counting Absolution) has always been just a bunch of disassociated maps one after another. Blood money, contracts, silent assassin. That's their niche they're playing to with this one. Bite sized self contained stealth sandboxes.

Everything I've bitched about, they've patched so I can't say they haven't listened or adjusted. I know people wanna be pissed, but the game's been good. The community's been good.

[eldingo]

What is stopping everything you just talked about it being good from happening if it had just been content release at launch along not requiring an internet connection all the time?

What part of all the good the devs did along with the community being good could not have been done if they had not gone the route of an always online episodic route for the game?

My question here is how is the game being episodic and always requiring an online internet connection helping the game in any meaningful capacity and does it outweigh the negatives that come with being episodic and always requiring you be connected to your internet.

what part of hitman is made better because of this?

[P_Bomb]

The always online sucks and I and everyone else have taken them to task over it. They said they can't change it so best to hope for is they won't do it again. No platinum sucks too as it's still a full retail priced game.

What's been good about it though, is I've had sporadic downtime in my gaming this year that Hitman has filled more than once when a new map drops. I've replayed the levels more than anything in Absolution already.

Now, I wouldn't recommend this all the time and for most types of games this wouldn't work, but getting to play new maps all year instead of having to wait until January has been good for my schedule. My January and February are already overstacked so I might have overlooked this had I waited for disc or rushed through it to get to Yakuza/Nioh/Horizon etc.

This year it worked. Another year it won't. But this year I rolled the dice and got lucky.

[eldingo]

thanks for calmly replying instead of cherry picking and hyperbolic insults like the guy above i appreciate it.

[senorfartcushion]

Gameplay replay or texture replay?

All of the environments are similar

[Meltic]

I'm glad im waiting until next year to get this game. Basically it feels like a early access game right now. Tons of bugs to fix. This episodic is just BS, and not to mention that the game doesen't even have a Deep story like Absolution had... don't understand how they was thinking in this one. And not to mention that you need to be online all the time to get stuff... games these Days... devs these Days...

[CKPan]

I stopped. that's all.