Hey Everyone,
This topic is meant to give clear and concise feedback for IOI Staff and raise concerns one might have for items and unlocks in IOI Singleplayer Titles. I’m putting this Topic in the Off-Topic category simply because while at the time of typing this out IOI’s only live service title out at the moment is HITMAN WOA, but the intention is to rope in 007 First Light and its Sequels, their Fantasy Project, and the future of HITMAN. So let’s begin.
FOMO, or “Fear. Of. Missing. Out” in the gaming sense is a term largely associated with limited/time-gated content. It’s a phenomenon that mainly takes place with Games as a Service titles, but does tend to bleed over into other things aswell such as Pre-Order Bonuses, or DLC’s with nuanced licenses.
Unfortunately HITMAN WOA is no stranger to this practice. And after Ten Years of Creative Kills and a growing list of rare and unobtainable antiquities that are sought after this Single Player title fell for the dreaded FOMO aswell.
From rare Legacy Rewards, Controversial Celeb-ET DLC pack, Nintendo Mario DLC’s, and coveted Creator Rewards, and Drops, this list is growing for HITMAN and it raises more potential concerns on an Item Economy that can lead to “Creators” profiting off of this aswell.
LEGACY Rewards:
HITMAN WOA has some rare unlocks that required the player to be there since the beginning. The coveted, but unremarkable Black Winter Suit, the unique Season One travel Brief Case, and the Trio ICA Performance Coins.
These items were only obtainable if earned in HITMAN 2016, and later HITMAN 2 where you had to Carry-Over your HITMAN 2 progress into HITMAN 3 with a now retired Carry Over program.
Disruptor & Nintendo DLC:
The Disruptor needs no introduction and while a solution is on the way for this content to be released it’s still a stain on people’s inventories and makes 100% Challenge completion impossible.
As for Nintendo DLC, these Mario themed DLC’s are probably the most expensive unlocks given it requires you to own a $500 system and then purchase HITMAN WOA: Signature Edition physically most likely New just to get everything since these DLC’s are obtainable through codes and aren’t on the game key card.
In a weird sense of irony when the Disruptor Pack solution releases The Switch 2 release of the game will be the most content complete version of the game in a un-modded state given its later release.
Creator Rewards:
The newest implementation to raise community engagement. IOI will have exclusive rewards for Content Creators and its Community. So far two confirmed unlocks exist. Both Exclusive with varying rarity.
The Creator Duck and what will be the highly coveted Trophy Duck are apart of this program. The Creator Duck is obtained through simply being accepted into IOI’s Creator Program. And the Trophy Duck is simply earned by getting lucky and obtaining a very limited and exclusive code to unlock it via competition.
What raises concerns now is this potentially leads the risk of Singleplayer games such as Hitman developing an Item Economy where “Creators” who win can flip these codes for profit due to the nature of how these things are obtained it’s not a matter of if, but when.
Drops:
Twitch Drops and IOI Account Drops. Probably the most forgiving out of everything here. We’re all familiar with them, but they’re all flawed. IOI Account Rewards have been very buggy as of recent especially with the Celeb ET Ducks releasing. It’s a growing list of things and because of this it needs to be mentioned in this topic.
Consensus:
The point of this topic isn’t meant to draw criticism to IOI, but simply voice what needs to be said louder, prouder, and because we’re passionate. FOMO shouldn’t exist in a Single Player title. Yes HITMAN WOA technically is a “Game as a Service” title. But it’s still at the end of the day Single Player with a yet to be released Co-op mode. We as a community understand the need to do things that drive player numbers and improve player engagement. But doing so through methods that make a Single Player title impossible to fully 100% isn’t the method.
Ultimately the goal is for the folks @IOI to see this and what everyone has to say in a civil and productive way. We’re all fans first and only want what’s best for the games we love.
So let’s work towards ending FOMO in Singleplayer titles current, and future.
Thank You.
There’s already digital content from the 90s that cannot be accessed anymore because the hardware required for it is no longer produced, and it’s not gonna get better since the quantity of digital content increases exponentially.