One of the first examples of how powerful the PS5 and Xbox Series X are, Hitman 3 earned solid critical reviews when it launched, but it didn’t make that big of a commercial splash. Luckily, Hitman 3 just got a major update, introducing tons of new features and laying the foundation for future content drops. Unfortunately, it’s also causing issues for fans on Xbox consoles.
Over on Reddit, Hitman 3 fans have been venting about the crashing issues, which appear to be affecting Xbox consoles upon booting. Players have recommended restarting the console and reinstalling Hitman 3 as potential fixes, but that doesn’t seem to be helping everyone. Luckily, IO Interactive is aware of the issue and investigating a potential fix, which should be dropping soon.
IO Interactive acknowledged the problem, stating that it has identified the root cause of the issue and is working towards a patch on its Zendesk board. On Twitter, the developer confirmed that it’s also “escalating” efforts to implement a fix, though it isn’t entirely clear what that escalation entails. Technical details aside, though, it should at least reassure fans concerned about the issue, which effectively renders Hitman 3 unplayable.
While these sorts of issues are never fun to deal with, it’s a particularly bad time for Hitman 3 to be experiencing them. It had mostly fallen out of the conversation throughout 2021, as bigger games were released that dominated online trends and award shows. The beauty of modern games is that they can make comebacks, though, and Hitman 3 Year 2 seemed primed to do so with Agent 47 and a bevy of updates. Crashing on startup isn’t exactly a way to sell an experience, even with Hitman 3’s high critical marks.
Fans should keep in mind, however, that issues like what Hitman 3 is currently experiencing aren’t uncommon, and some of the highest-profile games of the last year have suffered through them. Battlefield 2042 had its share of problems, and Halo Infinite is still struggling with the Big Team Battle matchmaking problems that have plagued it for weeks. That’s not an excuse, but live service games are difficult to maintain.
With any luck, Hitman 3‘s issues will be resolved with relatively little fuss. Unfortunately, there’s not much that players can do outside of waiting for the problem to be resolved, though that should encourage IO Interactive to put as many resources as it needs towards a fix.
Hitman 3 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
