IO interactive has been adding smaller pieces of content toHitman 3throughout its first year. The developer has now revealed plans for all the newcontent coming toHitman 3in Year 2, in addition to some features that are being added to the PC version.Nvidia had earlier revealed a list ofgames that will get ray tracing support, which includedHitman 3as well asRainbow Six Extraction, among others. Ray tracing is one of the biggest new features of modern GPUs and next-generation consoles. While it can be extremely demanding, it has a massive impact on the graphical quality of any game. Now, IO Interactive has announced some details regarding what fans can expect from ray tracing inHitman 3.RELATED:Hitman Trilogy Announced For Xbox Game PassHitman 3will get support for ray tracing sometime in 2022, and its levels will see a drastic improvement in reflections as well as shadows. The developer uses the opening level of Dubai, a location consisting of many reflective surfaces, as an example of how ray tracing can improve the graphical quality of the scene. It also mentions that the atmosphere in Chongqing, a rainy location from later in the game, will look just as impressive. As levels from bothHitman 1andHitman 2are playable viaHitman 3, players will be able to use ray tracing to enhance the visuals of all locations in the World of Assassination trilogy.
As a part of the ongoing partnership between Intel and IO Interactive,Hitman 3will use Intel’s XeSS technology, which utilizes machine learning to improve performance without sacrificing image quality. The PC version will receive support Variable Rate Shading as well, which helps in boosting performance.
IO Interactive also took this opportunity to confirm thatHitman 3will release Steamon January 20, signifying an end to the 1-year exclusivity deal with Epic Games Store. The developer confirmed thatHitmanfans on Steam will have access to all the new features that are being added to the PC version, and purchases made within the first 30 days will include the Trinity Pack,Hitman 3’s pre-order bonus, for free.
Unfortunately, there is no mention of ray tracing support for the console versions ofHitman 3. While it already looks good on next-generation consoles,ray tracing inMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxyhighlights its drastic impact on the visuals in every scene. Fans on consoles can expect ray tracing to be implemented in some form later inHitman 3’s life cycle.
Hitman 3is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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