IO Interactive have announced that their new Hitman game, which was due to arrive in December of this year for Xbox One, PS4 and PC, has been delayed until March 2016.

“We’re going for a new release model where we put out a good chunk of the game when it begins and then release the remaining locations over time,” the developer explained. “These few extra months will mean we can add more to the launch content of the game, more than we had originally planned, and then follow with a tighter frequency of updates, which ultimately will create a better game for everyone.”

If you’re slightly baffled by this explanation then heed this, mortal; IO Interactive are attempting a rather strange new model with Hitman by launching the base game first with the standard retail price-tag, and then delivering episodic content that expands upon the base at no extra cost. Why? No idea. It seems like a strangely convoluted method of releasing a game, causing many to question why they don’t just wait and release the entire game in one package. The only answer I can personally come up with is that IO Interactive don’t actually have the budget needed to create the game they want to at this very moment, and thus will use initial sales to fund the development of the rest of it. In that case, though, terrible sales could result in no further development.

In an attempt to combat dissapointment at the delay IO have talked about the game’s size, mentioning that the Paris level is about six times bigger than the largest area in Hitman: Absolution, with up to 1,600 people milling about. Impressive, certain, although hopefully they don’t forget that have bigger levels doesn’t magically make the game better.

“The playable area and density of our locations goes beyond anything we’ve built before,” the developer stated. “We’re striving to create a series of living, breathing worlds in those locations and we get pretty obsessed about every detail that you’ll experience.”

“Moving a launch date is never an easy decision, we know it’s frustrating to have to wait a bit longer for the game, but we truly believe it will mean we can deliver a better launch and overall experience.”

The above infographic also helpfully points out that there’s over 100 accidents waiting to happen in Paris, so clearly going on holiday there is a stupid decision.