Pretty much my stance on all this:
But to answer the questions with a bit more nuance:
- On which platform will you get Hitman 3?
I’ll be getting it on PC, it’s the platform i’ve been using for several years now. I played the entirety of Hitman 2 through Proton, and I’ll likely do the same with Hitman 3 via Lutris.
- Are you criticizing or agreeing with the decision of it being on PC for a year Epic Games exclusive?
See the image, i’m doing both. I’m not against exclusives on PC, and those that decry it as “the death of PC Gaming” really don’t know what they’re talking about, as consoles have had this as standard practice for more than two bloody decades, and the console space has turned out fine, if anything it’s stayed stagnant, and consoles have kept up with the times, in fact, this generation, they’re leading the charge in raytracing.
- Will you get it on PC on day one, even when you don’t agree with it?
No. In part because £75 is a lot of money to pay for a game, and i’m not against waiting for a sale, be it summer or Spring. If a PC Physical release shows or (or 47 does the default Fortnite dance, I’m serious about that), then I may get it earlier as the former has feelies that cost a decent amount to ship/ make etc, while being the same price. I do have a WOA Trilogy review to do, so My statue of Limitation is 6 months.
- Do you think this will affect sales numbers or do you think that it won’t make such a big difference due people still buying it or Epic having paid for said exclusivity?
The niche Hitman crowd probably will buy it, in part because IOI are seen as a pretty small company (They’re not indie, just Independent, there is a difference) and that they make a niche stealth game series that are constantly rated highly and critically acclaimed. As for the general gaming populous; they’ll likely ignore it, as they did with Hitman 2. Hitman is a fairly hardcore-stealth game, and while attempts have been made to make it more casual, it’s not gonna lose that stigma anytime soon, nor should it I feel.
The average Player numbers on Hitman 2 are ~4000 (to the surprise of nobody, Ghost Mode did not move the numbers down when it got shut down, go figure) on Steam. Now, of course, that is only a portion of the userbase, but it’s still quite telling for its status in the gaming community; It’s popular, but it’s not seen as a “must play” game until people get round to it. Hitman gets news coverage, in part because of its established IP nature, but those do not translate into sales. I’ve seen more Youtubers play Hitman 2 now than when it released because the games are a slow-burn sales-wise. Basically, a lot of people who are criticising it being exclusive aren’t gonna buy it anyway, not on release, and certainly not anytime soon after launch, regardless of exclusivity. Not everybody thinks this way, of course. The sales on EGS are likely going to be lower due to EGS’s stigma, but by how much I cannot say.
- What do you think of what has been shown so far, and are you hyped?
I like where the story is headed, and contrary to what many think of WOA’s plot, I find it quite inspired and intriguing. It kept me guessing, and I’ve no clue what’s in store. To be fair, i’m in the privileged position of reading those darned comic books (Birth of the Hitman, seriously, go read them), so I’m more invested and I understand the intricacies of the plot more than most.
As for “being hyped”, I try to keep off the Hype train as much as I can, and I want to be fairly objective. However, I’m not a robot, and I’m human, and so I have some good feelings H3 will be good and satisfying to play, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
- Do you think progress will carry over between Steam and Epic Games Store without any further problems?
Knowing IOI, they’ll likely be a server overload of people doing the transfers at the same time (which isn’t entirely their fault, servers be weird), but otherwise, I expect it to work on the day.
These are not my complete thoughts, and I have much more to add, but I think i’ll leave it here…it’s already quite long.