A player-focused guide to Hitman: World of Assassination’s 2026 cross-progression update, explaining exactly what carries between platforms, how IOI accounts and old data work, and the key steps to prepare if you play on PC, consoles, or Switch 2 cloud.
What Is Actually Changing With Cross Progression?
From February 3, 2026, Hitman: World of Assassination will store your progression online through your IOI Account and mirror it across every supported platform you link. Instead of each version of the game having its own separate progression, you will effectively have one shared Agent 47 profile.
The system uses a Primary Account model. You choose one platform profile to be the primary source of truth for your progression. Once cross progression is active, every other linked platform copies that progress and then stays in sync with it.
This is ideal if you bounce between PC and console, plan to move to a new system, or want to dip into a Switch 2 cloud version without feeling like you are starting from scratch.
What Carries Over Between Platforms?
Once your platforms are linked to the same IOI Account and cross progression is enabled, the following will sync:
Your experience and player level carry over fully, so the level you see on one platform will match on all others. The same is true of location mastery, which means any mastery level you have earned for a map will be the same everywhere once your primary data is copied.
Challenge completion is shared as well. If you have already ticked off tricky assassinations or discovery challenges on one platform, those will appear done on the rest, provided they are reading from the same primary profile. This also includes challenge-based unlocks: weapons, tools and suits you have unlocked will appear in your inventory across all linked platforms once you own the relevant content there.
Freelancer mode progression carries across. This includes your safehouse upgrades and your overall progress in that mode, so you do not have to rebuild your roguelike career from zero on a new system. Campaign story progress is shared too, so your access to missions and completion state will mirror the primary profile.
Achievements and trophies are treated as part of your progression data. IOI has indicated that these will sync, although platform ecosystems may still handle their own pop ups and lists differently. In practice, this means that if your primary profile has a large number of challenges and mastery milestones complete, you may see corresponding achievements unlock as you play on secondary platforms.
What Does Not Transfer At All?
Game ownership never transfers. If you do not own World of Assassination or a specific DLC pack on a platform, cross progression will not magically give you that content. You need to own the locations and expansions separately on each system where you want to play them.
DLC licenses and DLC based unlocks are tied to the platform store, not your IOI Account. If you unlocked a weapon that requires a specific DLC set, the item will only be usable on platforms where that DLC is actually owned and installed, even though your progression profile knows you have it.
User created Contracts are also excluded from cross progression. Your ability to create or access custom contracts remains platform specific, so anything you have authored on one system will not appear on another just through IOI Account linking.
Save files are not shared directly. The game uses your online progression rather than copying actual save game files between systems. This becomes important when you look at how primary and non primary accounts are handled.
Understanding Primary vs Non Primary Profiles
When you turn on cross progression, IOI asks you to confirm a primary profile. This is the platform profile whose data you want to keep. Everything else will be overwritten to match it.
Think of it as choosing which timeline for Agent 47 becomes canon. Once you set that primary profile, all secondary platforms will pull down that progression from IOI’s servers and adopt it as their own. That means any progression they previously had that does not exist on your primary profile is effectively lost in the active cross progression state.
Crucially, any save files that belong to a non primary account cannot be loaded while cross progression is turned on. The game expects your online progression and local saves to match, and since non primary local saves were built on different progression histories, they are blocked to avoid conflicts.
If you disable cross progression later, each non primary platform reverts to its old, pre cross progression state, including access to those older save files and their separate progression. This gives you a way to go back if you decide syncing everything together was a mistake.
Hitman 2 To Hitman 3 Carryover: Final Cutoff
Before World of Assassination absorbed everything, IOI ran a one time Hitman 2 to Hitman 3 carryover system that let you migrate your Hitman 2 progression into Hitman 3 through profile.hitman.com. That legacy system is now being retired.
On February 3, 2026, at 9:00 UTC, IOI will permanently close the Hitman 2 to Hitman 3 carryover process. After that exact time, you will not be able to perform the old migration at all.
If you still have a Hitman 2 profile that has not been carried into Hitman 3 or World of Assassination, you must complete that transfer before the cutoff using the original web-based carryover tool. Once cross progression goes live, the new shared progression system replaces that older one completely.
If you ignore the cutoff, your Hitman 2 profile does not vanish, but it will be stuck in that game. You will no longer have a supported path to merge that progress into World of Assassination.
How IOI Accounts Work After The Redesign
IOI has updated the IOI Account website and its mobile friendly layout ahead of cross progression. Your IOI Account is still the central identity that links all your platforms, but the interface for managing them is cleaner and built for ongoing use instead of one off carryovers.
You will see a list of connected platforms under your IOI Account profile. From there you can:
Sign in using your chosen platform credentials and confirm each link. Steam, Epic, PlayStation, Xbox and cloud or streaming versions like a Switch 2 cloud client should all appear as individual entries once connected. You can review which game entitlements are associated with each and confirm whether World of Assassination is correctly recognized.
When cross progression launches, this account screen is where you will choose or verify which platform is set as primary. If you play on multiple systems, double check that the platform with the most up to date progression is selected before allowing anything to sync.
IOI also uses this account as your support identity. If anything goes wrong with your progression or you link the wrong account, support staff will reference the IOI Account tied to your platforms when investigating.
Step By Step: Preparing For Cross Progression
Use a short checklist now so that February 3 is smooth rather than messy, especially if you plan to move between PC, consoles and a future Switch 2 cloud version.
First, decide which platform is truly your main profile. Load up World of Assassination there and take stock. Check your mastery levels, completed challenges and Freelancer state. If you have played on multiple systems, make sure you know which one is furthest along or has the progression you care about most. This will almost always be your primary.
Next, log in to your IOI Account in a web browser. If you still have an older IOI profile from the Hitman 2016 or Hitman 2 era, you may need to go through a basic account conversion or password reset. IOI’s new site walks you through verifying your email, reviewing your linked platforms and confirming your display name. Make sure there is only one IOI Account you actively use; do not scatter your platforms across multiple accounts.
Then, link every platform where you own World of Assassination. Sign in with your PlayStation Network, Xbox, Steam, Epic or Nintendo account as prompted so IOI can see each entitlement. If anything looks wrong, fix it before cross progression goes live. It is a lot easier to unlink or correct a platform now than after your data has been synchronized.
If you still need to perform a Hitman 2 to Hitman 3 carryover, do that immediately. Visit the official carryover site referenced on IOI’s blog, sign in with your Hitman 2 platform, then with your Hitman 3 or World of Assassination platform, and follow the steps. Once it succeeds, verify that your Hitman 3 or World of Assassination profile on your chosen main platform shows the carried progression you expect.
Finally, take screenshots or notes of your current progression on each platform. Mastery levels, Freelancer upgrades and key unlocks are the most important. If something looks off after cross progression, you will have a record of what your profile used to look like when contacting support.
Tips For Common Multi Platform Setups
If you play on PC and PlayStation, decide which one you want to be primary based on where you do your serious progress. Many players treat PC as their experimental space and console as their couch profile, or vice versa. Once cross progression is active, the distinction disappears, so make sure your chosen primary profile reflects what you want preserved.
If you play on Xbox and a future Switch 2 cloud version, cross progression will help the cloud version feel like a continuation rather than a spin off. Since the Switch 2 cloud client will depend on your IOI Account to pull your progression, confirm ahead of time that your Xbox profile is set as primary if that is where you have put in the hours.
If you juggle three or more platforms, consider whether you really want everything merged. For example, if you have an old, half finished profile on one console and a maxed out profile on PC, using the PC profile as primary will wipe out the partial progression on the console in the cross progression state. If you are nostalgic or want to keep that separate run, you might choose to leave that console unlinked from cross progression and continue to treat it as an isolated save playground.
Remember that you can turn off cross progression if you do not like the result. Doing so restores each non primary platform to its old progression and re enables the old saves. The primary profile keeps its online progression, but the others go back to living their own separate lives.
Final Advice Before You Pull The Trigger
Treat choosing your primary profile like planning a mission: observe, plan, then execute. Confirm which platform has the progression you care about, clean up your IOI Account links, and complete any outstanding Hitman 2 to Hitman 3 carryover before the February 3, 2026 cutoff at 9:00 UTC.
Once the cross progression update hits, players who prepared will be able to glide between PC, console and future cloud versions with a single, consistent Agent 47. Those who do not may find that their favorite run is stuck on an old profile or a forgotten IOI Account.
Taking half an hour now to audit your accounts is a lot less painful than trying to undo a bad primary choice later, so step into the planning room and get your dossiers in order before the update arrives.