This line from Travis, said in the Heartbreaker thread, has actually led me to do two things I’ve rarely done:
- lose hope, in this case, specifically, about full ET reactivation,
- be disappointed in IO.
What this line tells me is that IO has not and has no plans to pursue contractual renewals or renegotiations necessary to return lost content. If Sean Bean’s Undying is going to remain a relic of H2, never to return, despite the approachability of the man in securing him in the first place, then other lost content such as the Wild Card and Sarajevo Six, which some such as myself have never had the chance to play, shall also remain so, and there is no point in continuing to hope, even faintly, that they will someday become available.
This also tells me that we should not expect full, permanent access to ETs in their original form, and that Arcade is the closest we will get, and we must make our peace with that. Even if ETs are made available like how we’ve all envisioned, it’ll never be complete, because at the very least, the Wild Card, the Undying, and the Undying Returns will never be available again, and possibly some of those H1 ETs that never saw reactivation in H2, such as the Forger and the Pharmacist.
This leaves me feeling disappointed in IO, I must admit. Not on the level that so many others have expressed; I’m not gonna be giving up the game or seeing them as a dodgy company or anything, nor will I start believing that they owe us these things when I know that they owe us nothing. I’m in this until they stop producing Hitman games, or until David Bateson stops being 47’s voice, whichever comes first. But, the shortsightedness on the part of these contractually dictated pieces of content, which could have been avoided by shoring up the options for renewal in future releases across all platforms, leaves me in the frustrating position of knowing the WoA experience will never be complete for all players, as at least 3 Elusive Target missions and the Sarajevo Six are forever lost. It didn’t have to be this way.
If future developments in the years ahead, before all support for H3 stops, reveals that I am wrong and any or all of these items have been secured and will be rereleased for all players, I will take all of this back.