Hitman 3 Breaks Series Sales Records With Impressive Digital Launch

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Hitman 3 experienced the biggest digital sales launch in franchise history, according to developer IO Interactive. The stealth title launched digitally and at retail earlier this week, less than a year after its announcement at Sony's first PlayStation event. IO Interactive has previously confirmed that Hitman 3 counts as its final entry in the World of Assassination Trilogy. Thus, this latest adventure will be Agent 47's last for quite some time.

Fans of the series and IOI, in general, need not fret, though. The Sweden-based crew plans to explore the antics of another beloved secret agent in the near future. Late last fall, the studio announced it will helm production on a brand-new James Bond game, tentatively titled Project 007. But before diving too deep into its new licensed project, the developer needed to wrap up 47's storyline. Apparently, the assassin is going out in style, especially on the sales charts.

In a brief post to its official Twitter page, IO Interactive divulged that Hitman 3 is selling better on digital storefronts than any other entry in the series. The company's celebratory tweet reads in part, "[Hitman 3 is] the biggest digital launch in franchise history." IO Interactive did not share any specifics with regards to the game's sales numbers, but the game is clearly making waves on the market.



Such sales success hardly comes as a surprise, considering how IO Interactive's servers struggled to keep up with the influx of players on release day. Launch issues aside, that Hitman is selling better than ever counts as nothing short of good news. It wasn't too many years ago that it seemed as though IOI and its acclaimed series were both in trouble. Following the release of Hitman (2016), long-time publisher Square Enix parted ways with the Swedish studio. According to developers, the publisher's higher-ups had lost faith in the stealth property. IOI partnered with WB Interactive Entertainment to distribute Hitman 2 in 2018, then opted to self-publish this year's installment.

The team's self-publishing efforts aren't stopping with Hitman 3, either. Upon announcing Project 007, IOI confirmed it's publishing the James Bond title, too. With the latest Hitman sitting at the center of attention at present, additional details about the next project are likely to remain under wraps for a while.

Hitman 3 is available now on PC via Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.