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IO Interactive explains Hitman release
- Thread starter Messofanego
- Start date
Messofanego
Banned
Yup, options are good. The fanbase can play it on a timely basis (and discuss on messageboards like here), and the regular can just wait it out for a full release. It's not a multiplayer game, so no need to play it on a timescale where you'd be worried about an active playerbase.
More_Badass
Member
Telltale games on PC work the same way. $25 for the entire season.
VolticArchangel
Member
Wait, so the distribution model for this game is like Biohazard: Revelations 2 ? Are they experimenting some numbers or something instead of going full retail directly ?
Interfectum
Member
The game plays so much like Blood Money that I wouldn't be surprised if one of their "level packs" next year is full of Blood Money remakes.
Maintenance
Member
Splatoon sinking the industry.
CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls
Banned
You should seriously give this a chance. IO have done a lot to communicate to the fanbase about the successes and failures of Absolution. The fact that they are more direct and open with their users makes me think they are learning form their mistakes.
Visualante2
Member
Digital only, so we can maintain the $60 price longer than a retail release would.
Interfectum
Member
Bunch of Chicken Littles in here. lol
AHA-Lambda
Member
I think I still want to know how much content there will actually be first and when the game will be complete, before i want to put any money down on this.
Messofanego
Banned
hnngggg
More_Badass
Member
I know right? Don't get my hopes up like that
Interfectum
Member
I clocked roughly 8 hours on the one alpha level provided and I still didn't do everything I could. If they release with 4 or 5 levels then that's easily over 30 hours of content at launch.
Callibretto
Member
You know, it's kinda surprising they shape their messaging that way. I mean, there's no metric to measure whether a game is a full game or not. People can say a piece of dlc is an extra content or content cut from the game depending on your perspective.
They could easily say that the content at release is complete, but as appreciation to fans they'll give free season pass, giving more content throughout 2016. Unless the content at release is noticably short that people will call them out for it.
Even then, it's provably better to sell it at $30 with an extra $30 season pass.
They could easily say that the content at release is complete, but as appreciation to fans they'll give free season pass, giving more content throughout 2016. Unless the content at release is noticably short that people will call them out for it.
Even then, it's provably better to sell it at $30 with an extra $30 season pass.
Interfectum
Member
Because they think if one or two games do this kind of business model then the sky is falling and Last of Us 2 will be delivered to us in 20 minute chunks spread over two years.
If the game releases with 8 levels and they state it's complete, what do you think the reception would be like?
Many games have been shredded by GAF for a lot less.
More_Badass
Member
I'd rather have the industry be open to different business models like this.
And it's Hitman. Given the whole mini-sandbox approach to levels, it's probably the most ideal game for this.
They can be bought one episode at a time. This is $60 upfront, like a more expensive version of a season pass. You pay the same $60 you're used to with AAA gaming, except now you only get a little of the product in the beginning and have no idea how large the final product will be. No help from reviews since they won't know either.
Let's just say no, huh?
EDIT: Seems Telltale games can't be bought one episode at a time on PC..
I mean, sure. To some extent you're playing it "early" but the idea that they're charging full price for this with no option to pay individually based on the however they decide to schedule their releases just seems a bit greedy to me. It's like they don't respect your time and the ability for you to spend your money according based on your time. If you're gonna release a game piece meal (regardless of how much you try to move away from phrases like episodic and early access) there should be a means to pay for the game piece meal. By all means, let people who are extremely invested in the game/franchise pay the full upfront cost if they want but to force everyone to adhere to that seems silly
It wouldn't work in this exact fashion but i can easily seem publishers doing stupid stuff like give us $60 upfront to play MP and get singleplayer in the next 3 months. Or worse yet, if you really want to throw on a tinfoil hat, you could make the claim that if this gets popular and gains traction that games will be developed around this model. Think of something like uncharted where your going around to different locales. Each locale acts as it's own "episode" or in a game like Last of Us that's split up by seasons or takes place over an extended period of time.
What?
Yea especially as their only selling it like this for digital only. I bet the physical release their talking about will come out when all/ most of the content is out.
Steverulez
Member
This isn't too dissimilar to what they said to Videogamer at E3, but either way it all sounds pretty stupid.
More_Badass
Member
Blood Money was only 12 levels
8 levels would be a great amount of content considering how massive the levels will be based on the alpha
Steverulez
Member
They don't seem to know what we will be getting at launch yet, which is an encouraging sign
More_Badass
Member
They literally announced it less than a month ago. The game comes out in five months.
I'd expect more concrete details in like October or November
Game development takes time, you know. Even for AAA games
Callibretto
Member
The level are apparently larger than previous hitman games, and they had additional mode where user select npc as target for other player to kill, the more you level up also unlock more weapon and items giving each of those 8 levels a huge replay value. I'd say even with just 8 levels, you can probably get more playtime in it than linear game like God of War or tearaway.
Interfectum
Member
Not to mention contract mode where you design your own contracts for people to play.
What do they do if the game bombs like Absolution? They've got your $60 so what is stopping them scaling down the rest of the game and just shitting out some cheap extra missions to finish the story?
If I'm paying full price I want a complete game, not the promise of one. I won't even consider buying this until all the content is on disc.
Steverulez
Member
I can't help but feel they shouldn't be announcing it without knowing their plan and then communicating that to their fanbase.
They want to try a new style of full price release (and digital only at first) then at least project some sense of knowing what you're product will be at launch.
Im aware of that but they are the ones who have decided to launch like this, game development takes time you know, so surely they will have planned where their development resources are going to go in the next 5 months and then beyond that so they can get on and do it
BibiMaghoo
Member
Anyone else get the impression they were forced to release by that point, and so rather than make half a game and sell it as full, they are releasing half a game and bringing the rest as they finish it.
I'm kind of ok with that, because of potential alternatives. One price gets me everything is fine, even if it's not day 1. I hope the game works out, and has enough content at launch so as to not leave people feeling shortchanged.
I'm kind of ok with that, because of potential alternatives. One price gets me everything is fine, even if it's not day 1. I hope the game works out, and has enough content at launch so as to not leave people feeling shortchanged.
His face has changed in the Alpha. Looks much more like 47 normally does.
As for the nature of the title, I think they're working on expanding it as the game launches. Not so much 'early access' but a "here's this chunk of the game, what do you like/dislike about it?" which feeds alterations down the line. They also want people to really play the levels, hence the variety, mission unlocks, live events, etc.
It's a very community-inspired take on Hitman, and as someone who knows what the community tries to do with these games, I actually think this model works at highlighting that more and more for players. If people have an issue with it, wait for the retail release; all you'll be missing are the time-sensitive targets that you only have one chance to kill.
Even if you don't entertain the idea that it's a bad precedent for the industry or anything like that, i simply don't get why you'd release a game piece meal with no way to individually buy each piece.
People lose their shit all the time the way season passes are handled and priced; not knowing exactly what your getting, exactly when you're getting it but wanting a significant down payment for it. The saving grace to the current model is that most, if not all, dlc that's included with season passes can be purchased individually and, as far as i have seen, you don't lose the ability to buy the season pass later down the line if there's multiple pieces of DLC that interest you and make buying the season pass cheaper than buying the pieces individually. Imagine if DLC was released for a game and the only way to get any piece of it would be to buy the entire season pass.
What they're proposing, i don't understand the benefit to the average gamer other than you get to play it "early"
Sun Bather
Member
Gamezone
Gold Member
You can buy single episodes of their games. If you don't like it, skip the season pass.
That or they don't have faith in their ability to make a BM-caliber game without the community kind of guiding them.
But yeah Absolution was 3 years ago so I imagine Squeenix wanted them to put out something before 2016.
Ravensmash
Member
Would buy in an absolute instant.
loganclaws
Plane Escape Torment
Really? Considering that you don't even know what you're getting initially, you're totally ok with paying $60 for a game/season pass that you know nothing about?
I guess of you're ok worth blindly pre ordering games than I can understand how this will be OK with you.