Square Enix Cancels Hitman Preorders, Asks Fans Not To Panic

Some consumers who have preordered the upcoming Hitman game received an odd message in their PlayStation accounts today. As shown by Vidogamer’s David Scammell on Twitter, the message says that their preorder has been cancelled by Square Enix (via Polygon).

Thank you for pre-ordering Hitman. The publisher has notified us that the configuration of the product you pre-ordered has changed significantly. As a result we have withdrawn the current pre-order from PlayStation Store and will cancel all pre-orders. You will receive an email confirmation when your pre-order has been cancelled. A revised pre-order for Hitman will be available on the store soon.

This obviously caused some fans to worry, which prompted the official Hitman Twitter account to clarify that the game is still releasing on March 11, and that this is only part of a few adjustments.

If your HITMAN preorder is cancelled, don't panic. Release date is still March 11. We're adjusting a few things & will update in a few days.

— HITMAN (@Hitman) January 13, 2016

Io Interactive, the game’s developer, initially planned to ship a small amount of content in December, charging the standard full game price, and add a significant amount of free content post-release. This version of the game was meant to launch this past December, until it was delayed to March 11 of this year.

The developer said that they would ship the game with more launch content, along with detailing what the post-release add-ons would consist of. Since both of these release strategies are unorthodox, some have speculated that the game is now moving towards some type of free-to-play model, shipping with a base game for free and then allowing players to buy more missions, locations, and targets. Neither Square Enix or Io Interactive have confirmed any concrete plans, however.

Regardless, Hitman will launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Keep an eye on Gameranx for any updates or changes to the game’s release.