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Hitman 3 Freelancer Closed Technical Test begins in November

IO Interactive will soon recruit help to test out Hitman 3's new single-player mode.

Ozzie Mejia

October 4, 2022 11:40 AM

Steam

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Early this year, IO Interactive laid out an ambitious roadmap for Hitman 3. One of the features that was laid out was an entirely new single-player mode, one that takes the game more in the direction of a roguelike. As one might imagine, introducing something like this to Hitman 3 means having to run some extensive tests, which is why the developer will soon be recruiting players to assist. On Tuesday, the devs announced that the Hitman 3 Freelancer Closed Technical Test is slated to start in November.

The details are laid out over on the IO Interactive website. It notes that Closed Technical Test users can run through the new Freelancer mode's various features. That includes decorating a customizable safehouse, unlocking mastery skills, and trying out different ways to dispatch syndicate leaders. The development team will be monitoring player behavior and carefully note what aspects of the new mode will need to be adjusted and balanced.

Freelancer mode was a big part of the Hitman 3 roadmap for 2022, but has hit a few snags over the course of the year. It was originally estimated to hit before the summer before being delayed to the second half of 2022. As of Tuesday's post, Freelancer is no longer targeted for 2022, period. Instead, it currently has a tentative release date of January 26 and that's assuming that all goes well with this Closed Technical Test.

Regardless of the results of the Closed Technical Test and when Freelancer mode is eventually made available, it will be available as a free update to all Hitman 3 users. We'll continue to watch Hitman 3's continuing development here at Shacknews and provide any updates as they arrive.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?