HITMAN 3 VR: Reloaded Heading to Quest 3

I’ve had my gripes with the latest iteration of the HITMAN franchise, something that initially focused on episodic releases, and then got its act together. That said, I’m not against playing more of it anytime soon. According to a press release that went out yesterday, some of us might not have to wait around too long to get more, or more of the same?

In development from the studio behind The Angry Birds Movie 2: Under Pressure VR, Jurassic World Aftermath, Zombieland VR: Headshots Fever Reloaded, and the upcoming Zombie Army VR, XR Games is making HITMAN 3 VR: Reloaded. The press release notes: “Rebuilt from the ground up for VR, HITMAN 3 VR: Reloaded marks a significant milestone in the HITMAN series[…]” but this is where we’re going to groan. It concluded that sentence by saying”[…] by leveraging the power of Meta Quest 3 to deliver a truly immersive untethered VR experience.” Great, hardware exclusivity. Just what I wanted for Christmas!

The trailer that was released doesn’t show much gameplay. In fact, it shows off one thing that the series is noted for lacking up to this point, duel-wielding. “Bringing dual-wielding to the series for the first time, increased interactivity, a completely overhauled user interface, and enhanced movement mechanics, HITMAN 3 VR: Reloaded delivers an incredible HITMAN VR experience for HITMAN veterans and new players alike,” the press release notes. It’s not as if Barry Hitman (as I’ve called him in the past) is an elite assassin who knows holding two highly powerful weapons decreases accuracy.

CEO and founder of XR Games, Bobby Thandi, said: “We are excited to partner with IO Interactive to bring HITMAN 3 VR: Reloaded to life on the Meta Quest 3. Our teams have worked tirelessly to bring this huge AAA franchise to VR. We knew the HITMAN audience demanded the absolute best VR experience, and only the Meta Quest 3 could power such large environments, dense crowds[,] and emergent sandbox gameplay. With dual-wielding, a stunning new art style, new features[,] and improvements, we believe HITMAN 3 VR: Reloaded will set a new standard for bringing AAA franchises to Meta Quest.“

I could do without locking VR games behind Facebook-owned headsets that very few people have, though it returns us to the argument that “exclusives sell systems.” Get people on board with VR before trying to upsell them on minor increases like you are Apple or something. HITMAN 3 VR: Reloaded is set to release later this Summer at some point, exclusive to the Meta Quest 3 at $29.99/€27.99/£24.99 or regional equivalent.