Hitman 3: Steam Owners Will Get Free Upgrades to Make Up for Shaky Launch

Hitman 3 Steam owners will get a free upgrade starting today to make up for the game’s shaky launch.

As revealed by developer IO Interactive in a community support post, fans who purchased the game on Steam following its launch on January 20 will be entitled to a free upgrade of the game. The developer admitted in its post that Hitman 3’s Steam launch didn’t exactly go as planned following a flurry of fan backlash over the topic.

“We were excited to bring HITMAN 3 to Steam with new content and we knew that anticipation and excitement levels amongst our Steam players was high, especially as the game had been an Epic exclusive for a year,” read a statement from the company. “Ultimately, we didn’t meet our own expectations of a launch experience and we don’t like that our Steam community is beginning their HITMAN 3 journey in this way.”

“So, here’s what we’re going to do: Everyone on Steam who has already bought HITMAN 3, or anyone that buys the game through to February 19th 2022, will be granted a free upgrade. Starting on January 27th 2022, this process will begin to automatically roll out via Steam entitlements. Simply launch your Steam copy of HITMAN 3 and the new content from your free upgrade will be waiting for you to enjoy.”

The specific upgrade you’ll be entitled to will depend upon which version of the game you have purchased. Fans who have paid for the standard edition of Hitman 3 will automatically be upgraded to the Deluxe Edition, while those who already own the Deluxe Edition or a copy of Hitman Trilogy will gain access to the Seven Deadly Sins Collection.

Anger over the launch of Hitman 3 began last week with fans largely taking issue over the game’s pricing. Purchasing the standard edition of Hitman 3 on Steam will set you back $60 — the same amount that it launched for on Epic a year ago. Considering that the game has been out for a year (albeit an Epic exclusive) many fans felt frustrated that IO Interactive hadn’t discounted the game when it came out for the second time around.

On social media, the outcry from fans led to the game’s subreddit being temporarily closed down after some members of the community took steps too far and began targeting their harassment.

“This decision was due to targeted harassment, and a security breach which affected our ability to moderate the subreddit effectively and safely. IOI had no part in privating the subreddit, this was entirely the decision of the moderators, and we are just fellow fans like you who volunteer our time to help out,” a moderator wrote.

The subreddit returned later the same day, though Mark was quick to address some basic ground rules stating that while “criticism is of course allowed”, “harassment and vitriol is not.”

For more from Hitman 3, make sure to check out this post detailing what you can expect from the game throughout 2022.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.