The studio's businesses practices have become a lot more consumer friendly after Square Enix left IO Interactive to their own devices. Two key changes just made getting on board with the new Hitman game a lot more appealing. Farewell Denuvo, hello free trial.
After Square Enix decided that IO Interactive's Hitman just isn't making enough for their taste, despite performing relatively well on the sales/critical acclaim side of things, the Danish studio has went to work and made its game a lot more accessible, along with their business model becoming considerably more fair towards customers.
IOI
IO has recently the deadline induced mess of an episodic release scheme, and as of yesterday the first episode of Hitman is completely free for anyone interested in trying before buying.
“I’m proud to announce that our first hello as an independent studio is to invite all gamers to play the beginning of Hitman for free. There is a lot of love out there for Hitman and with this offering we hope that many more will fall in love with the game. We believe that this is Hitman at its best. So jump in and give a try", the studio yesterday.
Square Enix
To make things even more appetising, there are reports coming in that Denuvo has magically vanished from the game.
Aside from potentially giving Hitman a little performance boost, as recently more and more proof is surfacing that the software indeed does affect framerates, it is a gesture of trust towards their fanbase on IO Interactive's part.
A simple statement, we have faith in our game, and we have faith that you will buy it if you truly enjoy it - DRM be damned.
