Gameplay focuses on taking out targets in huge and intricate sandbox levels with complete freedom of approach. Where to go, when to strike and who to kill - it is all up to you. And for the first time Hitman will lead with a digital release inviting players into a world of assassination, from the highly fashionable Paris and sunny coast of Italy to the dust and hustle of the markets in Marrakesh in this creative stealth action game.

When Square Enix/IO Interactive first announced Hitman it stated that the game would "evolve and deepen over time, with this initial storyline concluding in 2016," sparking speculation about episodic content. To clarify that the developer issued the following statement:

Hitman will launch as a digital download. That’s when the experience will begin. And it’s really important to us that this is understood as a ‘beginning’.  What we release on December 8th is not the full game. It’s a sizeable chunk of it. We know that the specifics of exactly what is included on December 8th are very important to some of you. We’re finalizing those plans and look forward to sharing them with you. Stay tuned for more details on this.

All of the content we release live to our players will be complete and polished, whether that’s the locations and missions we release on December 8th, the live events or the locations and missions that we will release in 2016.

We think the word ‘episodic’ sets up the expectation that we will sell individual content drops for individual prices but that’s not something we're planning to do. That said, there are some episodic elements to the story in the sense that it’s delivered in chunks over time, so experiencing the story will probably feel episodic. But there is also a ton of other content including live events, which have nothing to do with the story. We’ll also be improving and changing the game constantly whilst you’re playing it. Our ambition is to have a stream of content available from December 8th until the story arc is finished.

The thing is, there isn’t really a term to describe what we’re doing. That’s why we’re calling it a ‘live’ experience because it feels like that’s what it is – something that lives, grows and evolves. This question was asked a lot at E3 and if anyone out there comes up with a brilliant term, please get in touch. Seriously.

The entire game will cost you $60 or the regional equivalent, that includes everything we create in this story arc; from what we release on December 8th through to the end of the story arc in 2016 and all the live events too. There’s no micro-transactions or hidden costs in there. No extra paid DLC on top either. It’s one package, all-in for $60. We want that to be simple and clear and it was important for us to be up-front about that.