Woah, that's a pass from me then.

That's pretty much how "DRM-free" works on GOG now - as long as you can play the game offline at all, no matter how bare-bones, any kind or amount of content can be locked behind online DRM. It's a lost battle, we've been over this before and plenty of people are ok with that and outright attack anyone who complains, because, after all, you can play it, right? Right? :P

If weapon unlocks are online-only, I don't see a point in getting this game a third time, especially when it's comparatively so expensive. I support GOG for the DRM-free aspect, and that would be the only incentive on getting this a third time.

Edit: and this doesn't seem like DRM-free... more like a glorified shareware version

Shame on you, GOG.

I'm generally not one who gets upset over small bonuses if you connect online, but in HITMAN's case the online only portion basically makes up half of the replay value.

I'd like to see clarification on this.

I would have thought this warrants a store page disclaimer, at the very least. (Preferably one in the announcement as well)

EDIT: Spotted the disclaimer below the system requirements. If it was there from the beginning, my bad. Still, a note in the announcement post would be welcome.

As far as I recall Story & bonus missions could be played offline with the Steam version. However progress at unlocking items required an online connection. Please confirm if that is still the case!

For elusive targets, it is reasonable to think the game would need to connect to something to know an elusive target was in play for a given time period. It is also understandable for it to be required to download or upload user-created contracts, however that information isn't on the store page (and it probably should be).

In fact the store page for the game states "DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play. "

To be brutally honest the store page for this launch is the worst I have ever seen on anything released on GOG. Most of the store page is used for review quotes about the game from various publications written many years ago & next to nothing about the product itself.

The actual product description consists of just "Experiment and have fun in the ultimate playground as Agent 47 to become the master assassin. Travel around the globe to exotic locations and eliminate your targets with everything from a katana or a sniper rifle to an exploding golf ball or some expired spaghetti sauce. "

Something IO Interactive is claiming is worth £50.00 should have more than 2 sentences describing it!

Needs a corresponding extra disclaimer (similar to the one here) clearly stating that certain content (the mentioned Escalation missions, Elusive Targets, user-created Contracts, cosmetic bullshit and whatnot) can only be accessed with a permanent online connection.

I'm not sure what to think. Seeing a DRM-free release is awesome. Charging €18 for a game that was not only a freebie on Epic in August 2020 but was also in the Humble "Best of Stealth" bundle for €10.22. That bundle included Hitman 2016 and as a free bonus that also included Ghost of a Tale (currently on sale for €10.39),
ECHO, Heat Signature,
Styx: Shards of Darkness, Aragami and.. Hitman 2018.

I know Humble Bundle kind of bamboozles Steam, creatively preventing them from taking their usual 20-30% cut. But even if a 30% commission for GOG would be added, €14.60 for Hitman 2016, Hitman 2018, Ghost of a Tale, Styx: Shards of Darkness and Aragami would still be an absolute steal. €18 for just Hitman 2016.. I know GOG is a smaller store, so maybe we pay slightly more for the administrative burden of a product being sold on multiple platforms or something. But based on the Humble Bundle, IOI values Hitman 2016 at roughly €3. (including store commission) So the premium for DRM-free is about 500%.

Yeah, I'm glad it's here and I sincerely hope Hitman 2018 and 2021 will follow. I could even sympathize (even if I don't really condone it) with charging slightly more because of the administrative burden of selling on multiple platforms. But why does it have to be ~500%? And IOI, if the sales on GOG disappoint, you should know why.

Inspector: I hardly think that's good enough! I think it's be more appropriate if the box bore a great red label: 'WARNING: LARK'S VOMIT!!!'
Mr. Hilton: Our sales would plummet!

Got the game open while offline, and this seems to indicate that sadly, yes... ALL the progression (challenges/mastery and inventory) is limited to online only.

This is beyond disappointing.

The more I think about this, the more upsetting it is.

This isn't merely cosmetics we're talking about. We're talking about many hours of gameplay locked behind an online requirement (and the IOI servers were so problematic back then, it was the most annoying aspect of the Steam version).

This is the most restrictive game on GOG. Bad form, GOG. Very bad form.

Wow! then the drama on this from some is now entirely justified. Then this game simply isn't DRM Free.

Thanks for your feedback.

As predicted, more than half the game content is locked behind an always-online requirement. This is disgusting behavior from GOG.

GoG should not be selling this game since it is DRM dependent for so much of it's content.
GoG is also failing to properly disclose this on the description page.