Hitman 2 is dropping the episodic model, but some elements of its service-oriented predecessor are carrying forward. For one thing, this means players of the previous game will be able to see all the old locations in the new game with the improved gameplay features of the new title. You can expect that trend to continue, too – developer IO Interactive says future Hitman games will follow the same format.

IO’s Sven Liebold says that the decision to have a proper Hitman 2 rather than a season two is because it’s “important for us to serve our players instead of following this trendy bubble of games-as-a-service.”

“The community means a lot to us,” Liebold tells GamesIndustry.biz, “and I think it’s a very big step for the studio as well, because this essentially means that maybe there’s a Hitman 3, and a Hitman 4 as well. And this will all appear on the same timeline. Meaning that in a couple of years you may be able to play a game that goes to over 20 locations. And that’s super exciting for us.”

So even if the episodic format is done for, some of its benefits will continue as long as the current iteration of the series. We’ll have 12 proper levels in Hitman 2 once the originals are added in, so by the time we’ve got that theoretical Hitman 4, we’re looking at 24 locations encompassed in a single client. That’s truly a world of assassination.

But before any of those games come out, we’ve got the Hitman 2 release date to look forward to. You can follow that link for much more info on what to expect from the upcoming adventures of Agent 47.