Become a Killer Santa With Hitman's Free Holiday Update, Out Now

Hitman's holiday update has arrived, the centerpiece of which is a free mission where you can become a killer Santa in Paris.

As announced previously, the mission is called Holiday Hoarders. It's set in a version of Paris decked out with Christmas trees, snow, and decorations.

Thieves are trying to steal presents scattered around a fashion show, and you must try to stop them, using lethal force. If you find the presents before the thieves do, you can open them and use whatever is inside to your benefit. One item is a Santa suit.

Here is the official rundown of what's included:

• Added new Holiday Content: Holiday Hoarders
• Added the 'Secret Santa' Challenge Pack
• Added the 'Santa 47' suit (unlocked by completing all of the 'Secret Santa' challenges)
• Added 3 holiday-themed items that can be obtained and used in the 'Holiday Hoarders' mission
• Added a holiday-appropriate way to exit the 'Holiday Hoarders' mission

One thing to note is that the Holiday Hoarders mission doesn't feature any "live content" and new Contracts cannot be created on it.

The Holiday Hoarders mission is free, but developer IO Interactive is launching it in part to help support the World Cancer Research Fund.

"Cancer is something that affects everyone in one way or another at some point in their lives. We're giving away some fun, free holiday content to all Hitman players and we ask in return that if you want to donate to a great cause, please give whatever you can," studio head Hannes Seifert said.

You can donate here.

The update that adds the Holiday Hoarders mission is 2.5 GB on PlayStation 4, 1.2 GB on Xbox One, and 1.3 GB on PC.

In addition to the free mission, it includes an improvement for "supersampling" on PS4 Pro and PC that should make the image quality less blurry. On PC, the patch fixes a problem that could result in a situation that caused the game to load forever when using DirectX 12. The full patch notes are below, as written by IO.

Hitman December 13 Patch Notes:

General Improvements

Improvement to Supersampling

• Increased the quality of Supersampling filtering, to prevent the image from appearing blurry. This will affect PS4 Pro and PC.

The Escalation Inconsistence

• We've fixed an inconsistency with the names of targets in the Caden Compostion Escalation Contract.

PS4 Pro Controller on PC

• We've made sure that the game correctly recognizes the new PS4 Pro Controller when it is connected to the PC version of the game.

Pull an Enemy

• In this update, we've removed the ability for 47 to pull people over balconies or out of windows, when he is hanging on a ledge or below the balcony/window. There was a known issue for this move when it was introduced in our November update. It will be re-introduced with a game update in January when it is working as intended.

Fixed Issues

• We've fixed an issue with the 'push' animation on specific NPC's in 'The Icon'
• We've fixed an issue that could cause Dalia's routine to suspend if Viktor has been killed and the fireworks have been triggered. [Showstopper]
• PC Only: We've fixed an issue that could cause an infinite loading state when using DX 12.
• PC Only: We've fixed an issue that could cause noticeable drops in frame rate on GTX 770.

Finally, IO shared the December release schedule for Hitman. Here's what you can expect this month: