The Creator Duck and Content Creator Exclusive Items

Hitman: World of Assassination
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For those that haven’t enabled access to the leaks section of forum, earlier this week @Floople found an item added into the game in the most recent patch called “The Creator Duck”. Arti has since confirmed that this is an item that is available exclusively to content creators that opt into the IO Interactive Creator Program on Keymailer.

I thought it would be worth pulling the topic out of the leaks section (since its not a leak and is something that is live) so that people could express their thoughts on this decision.

Personally, considering the game is about to hit five years post-launch - I’m not a fan of the idea. At all. There will be many completionist players that have gone out of their way over the last five years (or even the last ten years for those players that have been around since H1 launched and have the S1-exclusive ET items via progression transfer) to make sure they unlock every item in the game, including those tied to time-limited events. This move now completely invalidates all that previous effort.

It doesn’t matter that its just a reskin of a remote explosive duck - its the principal of adding this in so late into the game’s life that it undermines goals that some players that have been extremely loyal to the game (and the trilogy) for the last ten years since it launched in 2016 have had. Why would you want to create an itch that some/most of these people will never be able to scratch?

Your thoughts on content creator-exclusive items in the game?

  • I think its a good idea
  • Mixed
  • I think its a bad idea
  • I don’t care about this at all
0 voters

The Creator Duck
Being a creator is a kind of superpower. So is a good explosive. This duck will ensure that your target meets their maker. Now that’s what we call great content.

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Back in 2023 there was at least some hope that item exclusivity was going to end. They brought back the Trinity pack, Sarajevo Six, Stadia exclusive items, and the explosive pen. Now that idea seems laughable.

To focus more on the topic though, I don’t see why they reward yesmen content creators in a more logically compensating way. Last year they gave early access to the Splitter to some creators, and (afaik) they didn’t do anything similar this year when they announced Eminem ~10 days before release. Early access to this kind of stuff is going to get more views than a silly duck.

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Fun fact: the big (and deplorable) Hitman creator they did that with, atrioc, got access to the content early - but he/his editing team fucked around and the video was only posted like a week before the original run of the ET ended. :joy:

Can’t imagine that is what combatglue had planned to happen - he was more than willing to overlook atrioc’s controversial history because of his viewer count, and then didn’t get much out of it in the end.

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What I can’t fathom is how the entire community is fully aligned in the same line of thinking on this and the ET formula, while IOI insists on doing exactly the opposite. I’m genuinely trying to use all my brainpower to understand what kind of corporate thinking is behind these choices, but I can’t arrive at a plausible answer.

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I love this community man

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Eh, make it a year or so and it will be just another Twitch drop.

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As long you are not taunted ingame that there is an item you did not unlock, I don’t see the problem. There are a handful of items you have no chance to unlock anymore as well, like the travel briefcase or the ET Performance coins.

Generally you probably should not be a completionist with a game that keeps releasing non-free DLCs or twitch/tiktok/whtaev drops that bring new items. You basically force yourself into buying and registering when the items may otherwise not interest you.

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I would care if these items were truly interesting. To be honest, the twitch dynamite is by far the only exclusive item that I like. It’s basically like the big one or the fire cracker but a weapon instead of just a distraction. The ducks, come on. We have so many. If they want to really get people interested why not take a bit more care? This is just the showcase duck with a different text on the shirt. Not something I have any sliver of FOMO over.

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I’m not personally annoyed I don’t get another reskin I’ll never use but I do hate this practice and the many times IOI have done stuff like time sensitive content.

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If it was only going to be exclusive to another platform, like to PlayStation or PC only, then I’d have a real problem. While I don’t like any form of exclusivity, the fact that it’s just this one nothing item that I’ll probably never use - like most of the other ducks outside of PsyOps campaigns in Freelancer - it’s really no different than having missed out on the coin for the original release of H1 ETs, or getting a shot at the Wild Card. Not fully equivalent, but close enough for me to be alright with not getting it if they never open it up for anyone to get from actually playing the game. That said, IOI, seriously, stop this now.

2 Likes
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Following the ICA Coin Series, Black Winter Suit, and Aluminum Travel Briefcase, the Creator Duck is now being added as another unobtainable item.

The ICA Coin and Black Winter Suit were unavailable to Japanese players from the moment of purchase due to the game not being available for purchase in Japan and the delayed release date for HITMAN in Japan.
For that reason, unfortunately, completing the collection was impossible for me from the start.

Additionally, the Switch 2 exclusive items—the three Mario and Luigi outfits, the Golden Wrench, and Dino Duck—are currently unavailable on other platforms.
In other words, the number of unavailable items just keeps growing.

IOI seems to be a company that greatly underestimates the enjoyment players derive from completing items.
I find that regrettable.
I also deeply regret that they decided to disregard players who have enjoyed item completion—a feature supporting HITMAN for nearly a decade—in order to gain promotional power from a few high-profile individ

14 Likes
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I’m gonna share this video script prematurely because I’m too tired to make a video on this at the moment.

But to give the cliffnotes:

I am not a huge fan of the idea of “game-ifying” the public relations between content creators/ influencers and the developers. Having an in-game suit such as the Signature suit with gloves, but with a pin on it to denote you’re a verified creator, that’s fine. I don’t even think that’d be too controversial. But locking behind and making a game-altering mechanically affecting item locked only to creators is a bit of a “wait, what?” moment for me.

Yes, it’s a minor reskin of the IOI showcase duck, but that’s still a rare item as of right now, so that doesn’t exactly make it better. Sidenote: We do not need more duck-related unlocks. At least make one based on a Platypus if you’re committed to waterfowl.

Anyway, this whole scheme with the creator program feels like IOI deliberately attempting to steer the narrative so they only get good PR by creators they officially endorse with an over-complicated point system that lets creators vye for top spots in rankings, and get keys and other such goodies, which as you might be able to figure out, will inevitably lead to a perpetual happiness racket.

You don’t see a problem with this IO? This is a very convoluted, and I would argue, not very efficient way, of just selecting partners you know are trustworthy and giving them keys to review your game, DLC, or whatever else you release. Adding more incentive on top of that is going to lead to problems with creator trustworthiness – because creators are given an incentive to keep on IOI’s good side tyo keep getting perks by always making content for them. You want that key for that Eminem DLC, or be entered into a raffle for 007 first light? Pump out content like your life depends on it!

Also I find it very funny when that the brief mentions that creators should make high quality content quickly. Which, as a small creative voice, is usually one or the other, you cannot do both.

if any creator is in this program (and it’s been around since September 2025’s PS5 showcase), I would strongly consider your options. And as an audience member, I would think twice trusting what anyone who posts under the manufatured hashtags says. Because what they’re saying or sharing may not be in your own interest. Please don’t bribe Content Creators IO.

The first time I saw this after @BlossomFox sent me the page, my mind immedietely went to “This has all the trappings of a ponzi scheme”, and I am not happy about it.

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Funny you should say that…

like the travel briefcase

Which is the image for Versatile Assassin.

or the ET Performance coins

One of which is seen in the safehouse/ and is used as the Freelancer coin in..uh… Freelancer, albeit it’s an unused H2 variant.

Like with the recent CelebrET’s, it’s a pretty simple motivation: To be in the news cycle as much as possible, and attempt to be viral, so partner up with anyone famous to reach new players and those interested in the celebrity. It explains a lot honestly.

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If I may:

Maybe the Creator Duck could also be given to people who create a Featured Contract?
@IOI_Artjoms

It would involve the community, while still being semi-exclusive and prestigious.
(I won’t get it, because I don’t create contracts, but still it wouldn’t be so closed off)

To be honest: I get it.
I get why someone at IOI would want to do this.
I don’t particularly want to be one to tell them no to a business initiative, which is their right, and their obligation to seek.

But.
I won’t smile at it.
It’s hostile to the way I engaged with the game.
I’ve done everything possible, from twitch, to paid subscription, to making tik-tok work.
And now, it’s not enough. It’s never enough. I’m not worth it, it’s telling me.
Years of engagement, it was in vain.
IOI will continue to ask for my money, attention, and engagement though.
I feel called a peasant, or a sucker.
So screw IOI a little bit.

And even then, I don’t have the Disruptor items.
(I made a point of not buying the pack from the get go, and I was the one who created the forum topic asking for its removal once there was legal backing for such ask)
I also don’t have any Hitman 2016 legacy items, I was working oversea and not really playing games then, came to the game in mid-2019, started completionism at Hitman 3 release.

Besides, I will migrate to PC, and loose all my progression, because cross-progressoin, or cross-platform-transfer is not a possibility.
Which now include time limited and delisted ET suits.
I actually like the Black Dragon ET suit, it’s silky.

So I would end up going to Peacock.
Which is telling, that the best way to play the game as intended, is to not go official server.

IOI wants it all.

  • The game is completionism based. Percentages are everywhere, challenges are shown at the end of every run, it’s central to presentations and trailers, it’s what fuels some players. It was a fundamental promise of the game and its engagement.
    The challenge sounds, the pop-up, the result screen, the unlock screen the game is meant to hook you on completion.

  • The product is hostile to it. From the (fair) legacy unlocks, to the (more iffy) delisting, to now the creation of a caste system of players. Impossibility of completion is now fundamental to the game.

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This is a crap idea

This could work. It would mean it would be easier to get it I guess. Though not having the duck exist at all is preferred

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I consider myself a completionist, but I don’t care about the Creator Duck, similar to that purple suit that you had to buy a Twitch subscription for (which now seems to come back as a regular Twitch drop). If such items were shown to you in the menu but greyed out if you don’t have them, that would be different.

From what I can tell, people who didn’t get the Disruptor pack, cannot get 100% of the Sgail challenges because the challenge for the Arcade mode hasn’t been removed. And the Disruptor items (or their empty, unfillable slots) are still in Freelancer mode. I find those much more objectionable in comparision because they are visible ingame.

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Two things.

First, we already have so many remote explosive ducks, I really don’t need another. I can’t even remember all of the previous ones or tell the function of some of them. There are so many, that I’ve tried out once and then never used again. If anything, more items clutter up the inventory even further, which makes it more difficult to find the items, that you actually want to use in a mission.

Second, I used to really care about completing every challenge in game and unlocking every item there is. But since IOI have started the Twitch drops, forcing players into dreadful engagement activities outside of the game, my interest has faded. This is not fun. I will still try to unlock every item for Hitman within reason. But for First Light I won’t bother at all. I haven’t wishlisted or prepurchased the game and if I miss out on some of the items, that’s perfectly fine. The more aggressively IOI tries to market their products, the less I care.

7 Likes
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Despite the unnecessary “always online” nonsense, this isn’t a game where anybody else is going to see your cosmetics. There is no multiplayer freelancer hub where our 47s can meet and compare their drip. That duck blows up the same as any other duck, and I guarantee you aren’t zooming in to see its ugly green tie as it explodes.

My genuine heartfelt advice is to not get worked up about this thing you saw in a leak that you didn’t know existed, is useless, looks bad, and has no impact on you.

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I used to care about having everything unlocked but as more and more useless crap has cluttered my inventory, I wish I never unlocked a lot of it. How many explosive ducks do we need, how many coins, lockpicks, re-skinned guns, the list goes on-and-on.

I think if we all actually looked at the items that are actually useful we could all have an inventory of 30 items not 500-600.

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Meanwhile truly useful items like the, EMP device, remote emetic device, and the sedative chewing gum, only have a single version, and if ever there were items where we could use a few reskinned duplicates…

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