I didn’t read all the posts above me, mostly just the first one, so if I repeat some points of others I apologize.
The following is from the point of view of a Hitman 3 speedrunner as well as leaderboard moderator for Hitman 3 on speedrun.com. I wrote all the rules for Hitman 3 on speedrun.com, with community input. I’m not an admin for Frote’s speedrun community or other community run events.
IOI Glitch Fixing Priority
There’s a difference between a glitch that affects everyone, and a glitch that only affect a few hardcore speedrunners who actively look to use these obscure tricks.
From a developer point of view, what is the point of targeting glitches that don’t affect most players, that development time is better spent on something that enhances the casual experience.
I do think that IOI’s approach to this has changed over time, they seemed a lot more active in trying to tweak things in Hitman 2016 and Hitman 2 (2018) than in Hitman 3 (2021). To date, there have been no major changes to Hitman 3’s rating system since launch, while Hitman 2016 and Hitman 2 got several tweaks over time.
Perhaps IOI want to just keep things stable as everything mostly works now. Remember, “tranq glitch” was born from the last major change to Hitman 2’s rating system (introducing the legal accident KO’s mechanic). Maybe they don’t want to risk change anymore. But I don’t want to put words in their mouth.
In-Game Leaderboards
So what is the big deal if some glitches aren’t fixed anyways? Are you afraid you need to use all these glitches to get the top times on the in-game leaderboards?
Frankly I’ve never put much credibility on the in-game leaderboards considering that
A) The in-game leaderboards aren’t cross platform, someone on Steam won’t see the times on Epic. Even though these are functionally identical game versions both on PC.
B) They never remove cheaters on PC.
C) They don’t remove any runs from old patch, even runs that literally aren’t possible anymore. The leaderboards for A Gilded Cage (Marrakesh) and many other maps (for platforms other than Steam which released later) have a bunch of 7 second SA runs on the in-game leaderboard. These aren’t cheated times either, it used to be possible to shoot through all walls with Druzhina 34 Arctic rifle but this was patched a few months in like February 2021. I understand why IOI don’t bother to remove old patch runs that no longer work, but it also destroys their credibility.
Community Leaderboards
Most community run leaderboards for speedrunning and whatnot have their own “house rules” anyways. Frote7’s Speedrun Community and speedrun.com leaderboards both ban some glitches, with tranq glitch being one of the main ones.
Now, if you don’t agree with which glitches are banned from speedrun.com, Frote’s Speedrun community, or elsewhere, fine.
Make up your own “glitchless” ruleset, form a community, get like-minded people to compete with you, no one is stopping you. The current speedrun.com rules and Frote’s speedrun Community rules are unlikely to change in the near future however.
Like it or not, a lot of Hitman speedrunners like using at least some of these glitches and the community leaderboards and events reflect that mindset.
PS: I’m not gonna debate what is or isn’t a glitch cause that is a bottomless rabbithole and a huge reason why I have never bothered implementing an all-encompassing “glitchless” ruleset for Hitman 3 on speedrun.com either.