Hitman 2's multiplayer assassination race Ghost Mode is going dark after two years

The launch of Hitman 2 ushered in a somewhat experimental take on how multiplayer could fit into a traditionally single-player experience with Ghost Mode, but developer IO Interactive now says Ghost Mode’s servers are being put to rest.

The announcement was made alongside an overview of play modes for the upcoming Hitman 3, with IO noting that Ghost Mode won’t carry forward into the final game in its World of Assassination trilogy, nor will it live on in Hitman 2.

The matchmade mode allowed players to go head to head in a single level to race to take down targets, many times forcing both parties to rapidly adapt their plans as new targets and complications arose. While players could see the outline of one another, actual interaction between the two overlapping worlds was limited hence the Ghost Mode moniker.

It was a very novel take on how multiplayer could fit into the Hitman games, and while this particular mode of play won’t live on, IO Interactive says its teams have learned a lot from Ghost Mode that might inform future stabs at multiplayer Hitman modes.

“With our focus currently on other areas of the World of Assassination, Ghost Mode won’t be featured in Hitman 3 and we have made the difficult decision to shut down the Ghost Mode servers for Hitman 2 on Monday 31st August 2020. We have learnt a hell of a lot from Ghost Mode over the last two years and we’ll be taking all of those learnings onboard for what we do in the future with regards to multiplayer.”