So Rocky will be out before Freelancer it seems like
Itās been a hot minute since we started HITMAN 3 ā Year 2 and weāve just reached the 3-month mark. A great time for us to give a deeper update on whatās coming up in the rest of the year.
If youāve just joined the World of Assassination, or need a recap on what Year 2 is all about, you can catch up on the plans we shared earlier this year. Today, we want to give an update on these exciting updates and when you can expect them to arrive in the game.
Freelancer
Letās start with the most relevant piece of news first. Weāre moving the release date to make the mode all it can be. Hereās more detail.
We see HITMAN 3: Freelancer as the next evolution of Hitman and an entirely new way to engage with the world and characters that weāve built into the World of Assassination over the last 7 years. Weāve concluded the main campaign with HITMAN 3, but the world has so much more to offer and we didnāt feel as though weād quite achieved everything we wanted to with Agent 47 in this trilogy.
In short, this mode is quite expansive and involving. Itās built for players that want to dive deeper into what a Hitman game can be and for that reason, weāve decided to give it more time.
The truth is that itās a luxurious decision for us to make. HITMAN 3 has been a success and with that, weāre able to give our team that extra time to tighten the bolts and make sure that the mode is as close to our ambitions as possible. We want it to land well and be a platform for Hitman players to enjoy this game world for a long period of time.
In fact, weāve had several rounds of internal testing, and weāve even shared playable builds with some of our trusted and core community members to give feedback and share insights after lengthy playtests. This was all done on their own machines and in their own homes to truly replicate what it will be like when we launch the mode.
The feedback from the playtests was largely positive and the mode is in very good shape. As weāve said, weāre taking some extra time to tighten the mode up and improve several elements that we think will greatly improve the gameplay experience. Whilst we work on those improvements, weāre also preparing to dive deeper into the mode and share more of what you can expect.
With all of that in mind, weāre now aiming to release the Freelancer game mode to HITMAN 3 in the second half of 2022. We think it will be worth the wait.
Spring Content
With the change to the release of the Freelancer game mode from Spring to second half of 2022, weāve needed to adjust some of our plans for the next few months. Itās a relatively complex and fluid situation where weāve been moving things around behind the scenes, but weāve landed in a good place.
In our original plans, we had a patch scheduled for April that would have included fresh new content for that month and throughout May. Now, weāll be introducing that content with our next patch, planned for May 24th.
As you can see above, the biggest change will be a few more rounds of Featured Contracts than we normally release over the course of a month ā although we are brewing on some exciting ideas for how to make the most of themā¦ When we hit May 24th, itāll be business as usual with ET Arcade unlocks and HITMAN 3 ETās back on the menu.
We hope that sharing more insights and going more āin-depthā about the choices that weāve made along the way will keep you informed about whatās to come in HITMAN 3. We waited longer than anticipated to share these plans with you to make sure that we could share them concretely and accurately. Thank you for your patience.
Further Ahead
Itās not just Freelancer thatās got a new release date. Weāre actually bringing forward the release date of the āRockyā map that we first revealed in January. Weāve now got that scheduled in for a July 2022 release.
This new map will have an intriguing narrative for Hitman fans, as it takes place before the events of HITMAN 3 and fills in a few gaps from the World of Assassination storyline. Weāre excited to share more details in the run-up to release, and weāre even more excited to show you another look at the location in all itās glory right now.
This is Ambrose Island.
Whatās next?
As we said above, the next milestone for HITMAN 3 will be the game patch that is scheduled to arrive on May 24th. As always, weāll have detailed patch notes of what has been changed and improved.
Weāve tried to boil down the complexities and moving parts of our game into a comprehensible post, but youāll be forgiven for wanting to scroll back up and makes sense of exactly whatās happening and when. To make it a bit easier for you, hereās what HITMAN 3 Year 2 looks like from here on out:
Today: May Roadmap
May 24: Patch 3.110 arrives with PC RayTracing
July: Ambrose Island map (aka Codename Rocky)
Second half of 2022: Freelancer game mode coming to HITMAN 3.
Ahh thatās a shame about freelancer, i was hoping for the release to be this month, iām sure it will be worth the wait, not played Hitman for a while!
Finally roadmap and it looks very cool .
Donāt expect it to be released until the very end of Spring as in one second to midnight of June 22nd in the most extreme time zone.
Its been pushed back to the second half of 2022. No spring time-frame.
Weāre getting a new map in July? Hell yeah. Also, I donāt mind them taking their time with Freelancer. Itās great news that they want to be so ambitious about it. It has so much potential.
Honestly, I though it was a fake, but it looks this is actually the real Mayās roadmap.
It seems this is the season of reskins and reactivations ā¦
Iām glad we can unlock the cooler bunny mask suit this time, at lastā¦
Two sets of community FCs a week apartā¦ hope I can get one of my āspecialā contracts picked finally 
Hmmā¦ so it looks like The Fugitive is not a ā#2ā Elusive Target, but just a reactivation of the previous run. I was under the impression that all ETs for Year 2 would be playable for everyone (even if they completed / failed the year 1 playthrough).
One thing thoughā¦ I do hope those ātrusted community membersā werenāt just speedrunners. Freelancer has the potential to finally give us a less gamey mode. Something like a roleplaying, core-Hitman experience.
Iām honestly happy with this. Getting multiple things a week again is nice, plus finally getting the Raver Suit with the bunny mask. I wouldāve somewhat preferred The Chameleon and The Surgeons, but I can do those in the arcade. Itās nice to finally get a date to expect the next patch
The Good: Ambrose Island will be released sooner than expected, although still two months away.
The Bad: Everything else. Rereleases, reskins of things we already have, Ambrose Island taking place during the main WoA campaign, meaning our timeline and understanding of events will have to be adjusted to fit it in, and most of all, Freelancer being pushed back further.
Every time we get a roadmap and people whine about not getting new stuff, I step in and say to not be ungrateful. And make no mistake, I will not be ungrateful for getting these new toys, contracts, new map, etc., and will blame myself for the buildup of my own hype and anticipation for Freelancer and the map formerly known as Rocky. That being said, I have never been disappointed by a roadmap before, not truly. Iām disappointed in this one. AI taking place sometime before H3 is frustrating, unless it takes place after Haven but before Dubai, Iāll excuse that. However, Freelancer making me wait longer when I had already set aside time to be off work to binge on it, because they made it sound so assured that they were almost done with it and would be ready to release in spring, that is a huge amount of wind out of my sails. Again, Iām not gonna hold IO to blame; I wonāt be a hypocrite on this. They promised nothing, they owe me nothing, I fell victim to my own expectations.
Sorry for the venting. Gimme 2 days tops and Iāll probably do a full 180 and be excited as hell for this roadmap, but I canāt right now. So bummed.
Hard agree on this one! I wonder who they are? Iām sure they have some sort of NDA or equivalent so they canāt talk about it, but I hope they are providing a wide variety of play styles to test the mode with.
Itās funny, I feel exactly the opposite. I think itās very interesting that there is more story to tell within the established story.
Ironically they also have an ET thatās #2 but thereās no #1 (The Broker) 
Maybe the #2 stands for āYear 2ā rather than just being an indicator for the second incarnation?
Yup. Iām leaning towards an accidental reactivation of the old one (as opposed to a #2)ā¦ but I guess weāll see if it ends up changing