Hitman withdrawn from GOG following backlash and bombing

Hitman – Game of the Year Edition was released on GOG.com Late last month and after weeks of player complaints and review bombardments due to intrusive online DRM requirements, it has now been removed from the storefront.

Hitman GOTY Edition is a version of the beloved assassin simulator of 2016 which includes all DLC in one package. But it also locks most of its content and progress behind an always-online requirement, which many believed to be some form of DRM. It seemed out of place on GOG, a anti-DRM showcase. To make matters worse, the store page for Hitman did not properly disclose the amount of content locked behind an internet connection. As a result, players began to criticize the game and complain on the GOG forums..

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Some of the content that can only be unlocked online includes new weapons, items, outfits, and starting locations. However, the original store page only mentioned “escalation missions, elusive targets or user-created missions “required an internet connection.

In response to the initial backlash and complaints, GOG explained he was “examining [Hitman’s online DRM] and will update you in the coming weeks. Now he’s gone from the store, so it looks like GOG has decided that Hitman GOTY Edition is indeed not suitable for its digital storefront in its current state.

Chandra, a representative of GOG, posted the following statement in response to the situation and the decision to shoot Hitman outside GOG:

Dear community,

Thank you for your patience and for giving us the time to investigate the release of HITMAN GOTY on GOG. As promised, we are getting back to you with updates.

We are still in dialogue with IO Interactive about this release. Today we have deleted HITMAN GOTY from the GOG catalog – we shouldn’t have released it in its current form, as you pointed out.

We apologize for the confusion and anger generated by this situation. We’ve let you down and we want to thank you for bringing this topic to us – although it was honest to the bone, it shows how passionate you are about GOG.

We value your feedback and will continue our efforts to improve our communication with you.

So it looks like in the future a different version of the game might find its way to GOG, without all content hidden behind still online GDN. However, considering the integration the online aspect of Hitman is in the final product and how old is the game in 2021 i can’t hold my breath than a friendlier version of GOG Hitman GOTY Edition never comes out.