Hitman 3 will no longer offer the ability to import Hitman 2 levels when it launches later this month, unless players repurchase Hitman 2 from the Epic Games Store first. Near the end of a long and complicated pre-release guide, IO Interactive developers said the change in plans was “due to a number of circumstances beyond our control”. Hitman 1 and 2 were released on Steam, while Hitman 3 is being released as an Epic Games Store exclusive.
Hitman 2 offered the ability to import Hitman 1 locations at launch, and it was announced in August 2020 that Hitman 3 should do the same again. At the time of writing, the Hitman 3 website still announces that “forms 1 and 2 locations can be imported at no additional cost to existing owners.”
This is no longer the case. The pre-release guide explains that Hitman 1 will be available for free to redeem for just 10 days after launch for anyone who purchases Hitman 3 from the Epic Games Store. Hitman 2, however, will be available to everyone at an 80% discount for 14 days after launch. In either case, this is not what IO is advertising, or what players expected when they pre-ordered the game.
It is not clear how this affects the ability to import progress between games. The pre-release guide suggests that progress can be imported directly from Hitman 2 on Steam to Hitman 3 on Epic, not to mention whether previous game locations must be present in Hitman 3. Progress gives access to items and costumes for Agent 47 to use at Hitman 3 levels.
In addition to the vague “various circumstances”, there is also no explanation as to why there was a change in the plan. Players are naturally assuming that it is due to the move of the series from Steam to the Epic Games Store, where the game should be exclusive for 12 months. We contacted IO Interactive and Epic Games for comment and will update this story if any of them respond.