Summary
- Hitman: World of Assassination surpassed 75 million players.
- This impressive figure includes players who downloaded the game's Free Starter Pack, as well as those who played World of Assassination via Xbox Game Pass during the two years it was available on the service.
Hitman: World of Assassination has surpassed 75 million players, IO Interactive has announced. Based on this metric, Hitman: World of Assassination is plausibly the Danish studio's most successful game to date.
This title comes with an asterisk in that World of Assassination technically isn't a game but a collection thereof. Two years following the release of the third entry in the new trilogy, IO Interactive opted to combine its latest three Hitman games into a single package, while still allowing the bundle to be purchased in parts. The combined trilogy was relaunched for PC and consoles in January 2023, and also made its way to the Meta Quest 3 in September 2024.
1On January 10, IO Interactive announced on Twitter that Hitman: World of Assassination reached 75 million lifetime players. The studio described this as a "monumental" achievement, adding that its business is presently "more solid than ever." While the company didn't provide any more details regarding the newly shared milestone, it's possible that Hitman 3 was among the bigger contributors to World of Assassination's lifetime player tally. Previous sales estimates indicate that Hitman 3 outperformed its predecessor in some key markets like the UK, while that predecessor itself recouped its development costs faster than the 2016 Hitman did.
Hitman's Latest Player Milestone Is Likely Driven by Xbox Game Pass and Free Starter Pack
Ultimately, none of the games likely contributed to the 75-million-player milestone as much as the fact that Hitman: World of Assassination was available on Xbox Game Pass for two years, leaving in January 2024. An even bigger factor to consider is the Free Starter Pack that IO Interactive has offered since the game's original 2021 release. The first two entries in the new trilogy were also treated to free demos that helped further their outreach.
Despite Massive Success, the Hitman Series Is Currently on a Kind Of Hiatus
Hitman: World of Assassination is still receiving regular content updates, with IO Interactive previously confirming this trend will continue for a while yet. However, minor content drops in the form of Elusive Targets and the like seem to be the full extent of the Danish developer's current focus on the franchise.
Rather than working on another Hitman game, IO Interactive is presently pursuing two unrelated projects. One of them is a game based on the James Bond IP, code-named Project 007, which has been in the works since 2020. The other is Project Fantasy, a new IP that was announced in 2023 and aims to push IOI beyond its comfort zone with a fantastical setting.
