I think we can all agree that online passes are just plain dumb, right? That’s why it’s great to know that a publisher like IO Interactive has decided to refrain from including the feature (read: setback) from one of the more anticipated games of the year.

Hitman: Absolution (which was recently reviewed by Conan O’Brien) will launch with its online Contracts mode completely free to play for everyone. That means if you buy a used copy of the game, you’ll still get to enjoy it in its complete form. That’s definitely a nice move on the part of IO. “We’d actually planned to have this mode accessible via a code in the game’s box, but we really want to make it available to anybody that plays the game — so we want to take a new approach,” stated the developer.

Early copies of Absolution will still contain those nasty online passes, but you can enjoy the game without them. IO explained that players outside of North America will have to redeem the passes to unlock Contracts. That said, if you don’t own a pass, you can access the mode through the “buy Contracts pass” option, where you’ll be able to snag the component for free.

It’s great to see one of the year’s biggest titles disregarding online passes. Here’s hoping more publishers and developers follow suit. Seriously, those damn things are just gross.

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