New Contracts And Elusive Target Coming To 'Hitman' This Month

Despite Square Enix’s decision last month to sell Hitman studio IO Interactive, the developers are still churning out content for Hitman fans. The new content includes additional Escalation and Featured Contracts as well as a new Elusive Target.

The new missions and targets will arrive in two waves throughout the month of June. The first set arrives today, and it includes the Escalation and Featured Contracts. The Featured Contracts are all created by members of the community and hand-picked by the studio. On the flip side, the Escalation Contracts were created by the developers for those craving additional challenges. For instance, The Spaggiari Subversion contract will put you in Sapienza, where you’ll have to take out three targets, but you’ll have a few restrictions in terms of disguises and weapons. The other contract, The Asya Attunement, is set in Bangkok, and it has its own set of challenges in the form of kill streaks, the use of laser tripwires, and possible encounters with enforcers. 

In late June, the second portion of content arrives with a new Elusive Target. IO will release more details on the target in the coming weeks. Once the event starts, you’ll have 10 days to return to Hokkaido and take out the target. The studio said that this is the penultimate Elusive Target, so time is running out for those who have yet to take on the game’s toughest assassination challenge.

In addition to the new content, another game update is scheduled for release alongside the start of the Elusive Target event. However, IO didn’t provide any details as to what it might contain, but it did say it is a mandatory update for those who wish to continue to play the game online. 

Even though Hitman fans will get more content this month, the fate of the franchise still hangs in limbo. Square Enix decided to sell the studio after what it called an “extraordinary loss” in finances in the last fiscal year ($43 million, to be exact). The company said that it’s looking for other buyers for the studio, but an official purchase from another group has yet to be announced.