Hitman 3 is becoming Hitman: World of Assassination, with all content rolled into one big game

Hitman 3 was good enough to be our pick for the best stealth game of 2021, but the variety of different purchase options was also, as we noted in our newcomer's guide, incredibly confusing. On January 26, that will change, as IO Interactive wraps the whole thing up into one big package called Hitman: World of Assassination.

Right now the Hitman 3 page on Steam offers the following:

• Hitman 3 Standard Edition 
• Hitman 3 Deluxe Edition - Includes Hitman 3 base game and Hitman 3 Deluxe Pack.
• Hitman Trilogy - Includes Hitman 3 base game, plus Access Pass DLC for Hitman 1 and Hitman 2.
• Hitman Trilogy Premium Add-Ons Bundle - Includes Hitman 3 Access Pass: Hitman 2 Expansion, Hitman 3 Access Pass: Hitman 1 GOTY Upgrade, Hitman 3 - Deluxe Pack
• Hitman 3: Seven Deadly Sins Collection - Includes Hitman 3 - Seven Deadly Sins Act 1: Greed, Hitman 3 - Seven Deadly Sins Act 2: Pride, Hitman 3 - Seven Deadly Sins Act 3: Sloth, Hitman 3 - Seven Deadly Sins Act 4: Lust, Hitman 3 - Seven Deadly Sins Act 5: Gluttony, Hitman 3 - Seven Deadly Sins Act 6: Envy, Hitman 3 - Seven Deadly Sins Act 7: Wrath
• Hitman 3 Access Pass: Hitman 2 Gold – Includes Hitman 3 Access Pass: Hitman 2 Expansion, Hitman 3 Access Pass: Hitman 2 Standard

There's also a slew of individual DLC pieces available for purchase, for those who want, say,  Seven Deadly Sins Act 3: Sloth but not the whole collection for some reason. You can find the same sort of overloaded shmozzle on the Epic Games Store. It's a lot to take in if you just want to dress up in a ridiculous outfit and do some funny murders.

You can keep things (relatively) simple by just grabbing Hitman 3 and cutting straight to the conclusion of the trilogy, but that's not a great option either because some of the best levels in the trilogy are found in the first two games. 

"Don't think of Hitman (2016), Hitman 2 (2018), and Hitman 3 (2021) as individual games," we advised in our 2021 guide to sorting all this out. "Think of the entire trilogy as one game, and each entry as a set of missions for it.

"Fundamentally, all three entries in this trilogy are the same game—it's the levels that are different. Otherwise they share the same systems, AI, controls, and interface."

IO Interactive has now decided to put that philosophy into practice by rolling all of the content from Hitman 1, 2, and 3 into Hitman: World of Assassination, which will be "the single available option to start playing."

"There will be no more confusion over which edition to buy, what content you own, how to redeem Legacy packs or import locations, etc," IO Interactive said. "We’re done with that."

Under the new scheme, Hitman: World of Assassination will include Hitman 3, along with the Hitman 1 Game of the Year Access Pass and the Hitman 2 Standard Access Pass. There will be one upgrade option as well, the World of Assassination Deluxe Pack, which will include the Hitman 3 Deluxe Pack, the Seven Deadly Sins Collection, and the Hitman 2 Expansion Access Pass.

The situation is a little more "flexible," as IO Interactive put it, for existing players: Steam and the in-game store will offer all current owners an option to "complete the set," which means that they'll only have to pay for content they don't already own. The standalone versions of Hitman 1 and 2 are also being removed from sale.

As well as making life easier for new Hitmen, the update can also be seen as formalizing Hitman's transition from a series of discrete games into a live service offering: IO Interactive said the change was also made with the upcoming Freelancer roguelike mode in mind, "where being able to easily access all locations from across the World of Assassination is paramount to maximising your enjoyment." After a couple of delays, that's slated to roll out on January 26, alongside the World of Assassination name change.