Today, IO Interactive announced that the first location in of its 2016 release of Hitman will now be available free for download. The ICA Facility location, which was previously only available as part of Hitman's first episode, is the area that will be given for free to players and features the game's first two missions, two Escalation Contracts, and over 40 challenges.

Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive, spoke about the news today in an update on the Hitman website. Abrak said the following:

"I'm proud to announce that our first hello as an independent studio is to invite all gamers to play the beginning of Hitman for free. There is a lot of love out there for Hitman and with this offering we hope that many more will fall in love with the game. We believe that this is Hitman at its best. So jump in and give a try."

This is some positive news for Hitman and IO Interactive after a slew of negativity over the past month. In early May, Square Enix announced that they would be dropping IO Interactive after suffering major losses over their past fiscal year. This announcement was later met with word that IO Interactive would be cutting staff at the studio due to the departure. Luckily, it was revealed at the end of last week that despite being separated from Square Enix, IO Interactive would indeed retain the Hitman IP moving forward.

In addition to making the first location free to play, Hitman will be receiving massive discounts on almost all platforms over the next week. Currently on the Xbox One digital marketplace, you can purchase all individual episodes of Hitman for $4 apiece, or purchase the entire game for $24. On PlayStation 4 and Steam, members can take advantage of the same discounts although the same prices will only be valid on PS4 for those with PS Plus.

Below you can find a new trailer which IO released promoting the free new offering.