7 mainline entries2000 — today
Hitman
A barcode on the back of a bald head, and a sandbox full of ways to die.
The story of the series
Hitman turned assassination into a puzzle. Since 2000, Agent 47 — a barcode-tattooed, suit-clad clone — has walked into crowded locations and waited for the perfect accident. The series’ genius is its sandbox design: give the player a target, a living level full of disguises, routines, and opportunities, and let them improvise a kill. Across two decades and a difficult middle act, IO Interactive refined that loop into the World of Assassination — a single, ever-growing platform of dense, replayable levels that turned the bald assassin into one of the most respected names in stealth.
Every release
The release timeline
From the first cartridge to the latest entry — every mainline game in the Hitman series, in the order it reached players.
- 2000 · PC
Hitman: Codename 47
The original. A bald clone, a barcode, and the first sandbox assassinations — disguise, stalk, and engineer the perfect kill.
- 2002 · PC / PS2 / Xbox
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
The formula sharpens. More disguises, more tools, and a stealth-vs-aggression score that rewards the clean hit.
- 2004 · PC / PS2 / Xbox
Hitman: Contracts
A darker, dreamlike retread of 47’s past hits. Moodier and more violent, leaning into the noir.
- 2006 · PC / PS2 / Xbox / 360
Hitman: Blood Money
The classic. Accidents, newspaper headlines, and a string of brilliant sandbox levels — the fan-favorite high point of the early era.
- 2012 · PS3 / 360 / PC
Hitman: Absolution
A cinematic, story-heavy pivot that narrowed the sandbox and divided fans. Ambitious, but a step away from what made Hitman sing.
- 2016 · PS4 / Xbox One / PC
Hitman (World of Assassination)
The reboot. Episodic, living sandbox levels — Paris, Sapienza, Marrakesh — and a return to pure assassination-as-puzzle.
- 2021 · PS5 / PS4 / Xbox / PC / Switch
Hitman 3
The trilogy’s climax — Dartmoor, Berlin, Dubai — and the platform that folded every level into one endless World of Assassination.
How it changed
What changed across releases
The Hitman series never stood still. Here is how it reinvented itself, era by era.
The sandbox foundation (2000–2006)
The first four games built the assassination-puzzle loop — disguises, routines, accidents — and peaked with Blood Money’s brilliant, replayable levels.
The cinematic detour (2012)
Absolution traded open sandboxes for a linear, story-driven thriller, narrowing the freedom that defined the series and polarizing its audience.
The World of Assassination rebirth (2016–today)
IO Interactive rebooted the series as episodic, deeply simulated sandbox levels, then unified the trilogy into one platform — the purest, most replayable form Hitman has ever taken.
