IO Interactive is currently busy with Hitman 2, the sequel to Hitman (2016), which features the same large sandboxes to hunt targets in. So if you haven’t played the original, the developer is more than happy to offer a reason to jump in. It recently announced on its Twitter that Hitman Episode 3: Marrakesh will be free to download from July 17th onwards.
This is part of the game’s Summer Pack and will only be available for a limited time. The offer will expire on July 31st and is currently live on Xbox One and PS4 (PC doesn’t seem to have the offer available). Episode 3: Marrakesh takes players to the busy market in Morocco, where they must assassinate Claus Strandberg, a Swedish banker, and Reza Zaydan, a Moroccan general.
As a free episode, it offers a taste of Hitman’s gameplay and assassination opportunities. Oddly enough, the Microsoft Store listing indicates that “Game access lasts for the Summer Pack period, but your saved progress will transfer to the full game, if purchased.” So the episode being free to keep and be replayed forever is unlikely.
Meanwhile, Hitman 2 will be releasing on November 13th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. It won’t be episodic and includes six locations to explore with various missions, Escalation Contracts and much more.