Hitman: World of Assassination’s 2026 Cross‑Progression Update Explained

The day Hitman finally becomes one profile

On February 3, 2026, Hitman: World of Assassination quietly becomes a very different game. IO Interactive is rolling out full cross progression across every supported platform, tied to a revamped IOI Account backend. For a series that has lived on nearly everything from Stadia to Switch cloud, this is the missing piece fans have begged for since 2016.

Instead of treating each platform as its own sealed-off profile, Hitman will finally treat you as a single player who happens to jump between machines. Whether you snipe in 4K on PC, clear Elusive Target Arcade contracts on PS5, grind Freelancer on Xbox or pick off a target on the train during your commute with Switch cloud or Switch 2, the same Agent 47 profile will follow you.

What actually carries over on February 3

IOI has been very specific about what lives in the cloud and what stays local. Once cross progression goes live and your platforms are linked under one IOI Account, this is what will sync across PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam, Epic, Windows Store, Switch cloud, Switch 2 and iOS:

• Overall XP and player level
• Challenge completion across the trilogy’s locations
• Location mastery levels and the rewards tied to them
• Unlocks and inventory: weapons, tools, suits and gear earned through progression
• Campaign story progress through Hitman 1, 2 and 3 campaigns inside World of Assassination
• Freelancer mode progression, including mastery and unlocks tied to your safehouse and campaigns
• Achievements and trophies, in the sense that the underlying progression state is shared (you can re-pop some platform achievements by fulfilling their conditions again)

In practice, that means if you’ve spent hundreds of hours on one platform, you are no longer “starting over” anywhere else. Your level 200+ profile, every silly fish and lethal syringe, the hard-earned mastery on maps like Sapienza or Mendoza and your tuned Freelancer loadouts will all be accessible as long as you’re logged into the same IOI Account.

What does not carry over

There are still hard boundaries the system cannot cross. IOI’s documentation and the early coverage all agree on the same list of exceptions:

• Game licenses: you must own Hitman: World of Assassination on each platform you want to play on
• DLC licenses: buying DLC (like extra missions or cosmetic packs) on one platform does not grant it on others
• DLC‑tied unlocks that depend on you actually owning that DLC on the current platform
• Leaderboard scores: online rankings are platform specific
• Actual save files: manual saves, auto-saves and some platform-level data do not migrate

That last point matters. Your profile carries over, not your moment-to-moment saves. If you leave a story mission half-finished on PS5, you cannot open that exact save on PC. You can, however, replay it with the same gear and mastery, since that part is now global.

How the new IOI Account system fits together

Historically, IOI Accounts sat in the background, mostly used for limited one-time carryover (Hitman 2 to 3) and Stadia migration. The 2026 update effectively turns IOI’s backend into a persistent live profile that all platforms read from and write to.

The flow works like this:

1. You create or log into an IOI Account on the web.
2. You link each platform account you own Hitman on: PlayStation Network, Xbox, Steam, Epic, Microsoft Store, Nintendo Account and iOS.
3. Each game client is updated to read your global Agent 47 profile from IOI’s servers when you connect and then push new progression back up.

Every time you launch Hitman on a linked device and sign into the IOI servers, the game checks for the latest version of your progress and syncs it. There is no longer a one-directional “carryover” that burns bridges after a single import. Cross progression is continuous.

From IOI’s side, this also means a cleaner account portal. The updated IOI Account pages focus less on the old Hitman 2 → 3 transfer logic and more on a clear overview of linked platforms, sync status and basic privacy controls.

Platform-by-platform: what this means for how you play

PS5 and PS4

PlayStation players used to be trapped in Sony’s garden. If you started on PS4 or PS5, the only official migration path was between those two. With cross progression, your long-running PlayStation profile turns into the “main” Agent 47 account that can travel everywhere else.

That makes PS5 a more attractive hub for cinematic play. You can run story missions with high-end visuals on your TV, then pick up Freelancer grinds or challenge clean-up on another platform without soloing all that progress again.

PC: Steam, Epic and Windows Store

On PC, Hitman has long been fragmented between Epic, Steam and the Microsoft Store. Epic held early exclusivity, Steam became the de facto home for mods and Steam Deck, and Windows Store was the quiet bridge for Xbox cross-play.

With the new IOI Account model, all three can feed the same profile. You can level up on Steam at your desk, bounce to Windows Store on a laptop that benefits from Xbox Play Anywhere, then jump onto an Xbox and still see the same XP, mastery and unlocks. The only real catch is ownership: you still need to own the game on each PC storefront you want to use.

Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One

Xbox already had an advantage thanks to Microsoft’s own ecosystem. Saves and some progression could drift between console and PC via Xbox Play Anywhere for the Microsoft Store version.

The February update extends that comfort across the entire Hitman ecosystem. Your Xbox profile is no longer “the Xbox profile” but simply one of the clients for your IOI Account. It becomes trivial to treat Xbox as the living-room machine while doing experimentation runs on PC and commuting sessions on Switch.

Nintendo Switch cloud and Switch 2

Nintendo’s platforms are where cross progression might feel like the biggest practical upgrade. The original Switch cloud version and the native Switch 2 port both benefit.

On Switch cloud, you gain a way out of what was effectively a dead-end profile. What you do in the cloud version now meaningfully contributes to your global unlock pool and Freelancer progress. If the service ever falters, your account’s core progression lives on elsewhere.

Switch 2, meanwhile, is positioned as the portable pillar of the trilogy. Early reports called out uneven performance, but IOI’s 30 FPS lock patch has given it a more stable baseline. Combined with cross progression, that makes the handheld a natural device for daily challenges, contract experimentation and on-the-go Freelancer campaigns, feeding into a profile you can then enjoy at higher fidelity on a more powerful box.

iOS

The iOS version quietly becomes a serious sidekick. Mobile sessions can finally be more than self-contained novelties. You can drill challenges on a phone or tablet, grind mastery on familiar maps and then return to your console or PC with tangible rewards waiting.

How this sets the stage for Hitman co-op

IOI has already teased a co-op mode for World of Assassination, drawing on lessons from the old Sniper Assassin co-op experiment and positioning it as more than a bolt-on side mode. Cross progression is the connective tissue that makes such a mode practical.

Several things become much easier with a unified IOI Account and cross-platform profile:

First, matchmaking and identity can be account-based rather than platform-bound. IOI can treat your IOI Account as the canonical identity, which simplifies inviting friends who may be playing on different machines.

Second, shared unlock pools ensure that co-op design can assume a certain level of gear parity. If you’ve unlocked a silenced pistol or a key tool on PC, that same item is available when you group up with a console friend. IOI doesn’t need to worry about players being “under-geared” just because they switched boxes recently.

Third, persistent co-op progression becomes viable. If co-op missions, mastery or cosmetics are tied to your global profile, both players keep their progress regardless of which platform they happen to use next time. That consistency is critical for a mode that wants to keep you coming back for repeat runs.

Finally, IOI can design co-op around the trilogy’s entire content library without worrying about splitting the community by platform. With nearly all progression logic now centralized, the studio has a more stable foundation for ongoing live updates, seasonal co-op events or rotating mission playlists.

To stay grounded: IOI has not confirmed cross-play itself across all platforms, and the precise structure of co-op progression is still under wraps. The sensible expectation is that the February cross progression update is about data, not necessarily about letting PS5 and Xbox players join the same lobby on day one of co-op. But it clearly clears the biggest technical hurdle for keeping your assassin career coherent across solo and co-op play.

How to prepare your existing saves before February 3

If you are actively playing now, you can do a few concrete things to avoid headaches when the switch flips.

First, stabilize your IOI Account. Log into the IOI Account website and make sure you only have one active profile. Clean up old or duplicate accounts now, because once cross progression is live you want one canonical account that represents all your time with the trilogy.

Second, audit your linked platforms. On the IOI portal, confirm that the correct PlayStation Network, Xbox, Steam, Epic, Microsoft Store, Nintendo and iOS accounts are attached. If something looks wrong, fix it before February 3. De-linking and relinking is far safer while the system is still essentially read-only.

Third, sync your current progress. On each platform you own Hitman, launch the game, connect to the IOI servers and play a small mission or challenge to make sure your latest progress is uploaded. Old offline sessions that never phoned home may not be reflected in your account otherwise.

Fourth, finish any one-off platform achievements that rely on local saves. Because save files do not travel, niche achievements tied to specific mid-mission states will essentially be locked to the device you created them on. If there is something you are close to finishing on one machine, complete it there before you start bouncing around.

Fifth, keep a simple personal record. Note down which DLC you own where. Since licenses do not cross, this helps avoid confusion later when you wonder why a certain mission or suit is missing on a new platform.

Tips for lapsed players thinking about a return

Cross progression is a strong excuse to dust off the barcode.

If you last played around Hitman 1 or 2, your first move should be to reclaim any old progression through the existing carryover tools before February 3. IOI still supports legacy transfers like Hitman 2 to World of Assassination on the same platform family. Doing that now ensures those old unlocks and levels become part of your global profile when cross progression goes live.

If you skipped platforms because you hated starting from scratch, consider which machine you want to treat as your “primary” home. That is where it makes the most sense to push through remaining story content, raise mastery on your favorite maps and unlock key tools. All that work will stop feeling trapped once the update hits.

If you are planning to buy into a new ecosystem like Switch 2, PC or iOS, you can now do so without anxiety about the grind. The smarter play is to wait until after February 3, link the new platform to your IOI Account on first boot and immediately enjoy your long-term profile.

Finally, if you are co-op curious, it is worth future-proofing your account. Standardize on one IOI Account email, consolidate your platform logins and maybe revisit Freelancer to stockpile useful unlocks. If the upcoming co-op mode leans on shared profiles and gear, a well-prepared Agent 47 will be in a much better spot to thrive from day one.

In 2026, Hitman: World of Assassination is less a collection of disconnected ports and more a single evolving service. Cross progression is the structural upgrade that makes every version of the trilogy feel like a window into the same long-running career. For a game about meticulous planning and multi-step executions, it is fitting that IOI’s long-term plan for your save file is finally coming together.