Refund.
And next time you see or suspect something is not quite right, don't purchase.
Actions against users should not be encouraged.
At the end of the day, the customer has the power, not the company.

1. Temporarily disable any adblockers / NoScript, etc, type of extensions.

2. If you have multiple web browsers installed, try using another browser that uses a different engine (eg, if you're using Firefox, try say Chrome or Edge or vice-cersa).

3. If all else fails, PM a blue.

Often GOG forgets things, so I don't think that was some sort of intentional omission. I remember seeing the info in fine print below the system requirements, before it was moved to the top and bigger be more prominent.

However, they already know for at least 48 hours that their prominent note is incomplete and misleading in that it omits to mention the most important part of the game that is online-gated, the meta-progession and unlocking of weapons, disguises, starting locations, etc.

Yet they don't update it. As it is written, it gives the impression that the gated content is minor, which is the exact opposite of the truth.

The fine print under the system requirements is what I believe was added around the time of the staff posting. I mean that, when I viewed the page in probably the first few minutes and purchased the game, the warning text was not present there either.

I agree that it was likely not intentional, similar to how sometimes new games have "TEST DEVELOPER / TEST PUBLISHER" on their pages for a short time after their launch.

It is unfortunately a situation where reading the page carefully before buying did not help. There has been other times - not to start complaining off topic - but for example when a game had a language support incorrectly listed and I bought it for that reason. I tried to report a bug, or ask for a refund if it had been wrong information, but it took over two months to get any reply, so I am worried about Hitman now, even though I asked for a refund within a couple of hours.

Fair.

You'd think companies would preserve their game, so that they can have their legacies live on and so that these games can run/work, years down the road...and even more, hopefully.

Except, well...many haven't done a great job of this.

That's one reason why it's great something like GOG exists - as it's supposed to be a place for DRM-FREE versions of games, a legit channel for buying and/or grabbing games in working conditions without any client-app non-sense, DRM-nonsense, etc etc. Good Old Games was supposed to be here, to help preserve the Good Old Classics.

We've had to have game communities and/or modders fix games themselves, so they can work - since many companies couldn't seem to be bothered to re-work, fix, patch, update the game, remove DRM; and/or keep the source code somewhere safe (unlike Icewind Dale 2). We've had to follow Steam Guides, PC Gaming Wiki Guides, Check Message Boards, or whatever - just to find ways to get old games working, running, and/or performing properly.

But, of course, of late, they have (companies) seem to catching on and kind of preserving games - but, in a much more monetizing way. I'd also guess many other companies would rather re-release the same game and remaster it every few years or so; especially for when new console generations arrive and then also re-release the game for PC to try and get a re-sale.

About who would buy Hitman on GOG: the kind of person who wants to play a single-player game in the typical DRM-FREE format that we've known GOG for, since...well, it first launched.

Look, it's not like this Hitman game is a MP-based game; you'll be playing alone all of the time. That's the biggest problem: this is an old game (i.e. it's 5 years old or so) and this is all single-player stuff. Which means, all of the gated-content that's stuck behind servers (such as disguises, outfits, extra exists, progression, etc)....shouldn't be gated as such; I should be able to access this stuff while offline.

Also, it feels like any leaderboards should just be optional and the game should still work while offline. If I ain't online, they I shouldn't be able to access leaderboards.

Also, games like Hitman 2: SA, Hitman: Contacts, Hitman: Blood Money - they never had any sort of online nonsense tied to them...and those are all single-player games.

Same goes for games like Diablo 3 if it came to GOG - I'd guess if D3 came here all DRM-FREE style, since it can be easily played alone while online and completed both base-game and RoS, players would definitely go nuts over that & buy it. Heck, it even has Lore and NPC's that really banter to you w/ stuff, making it feel like...it's even more single-player friendly than you'd expect, except for the fact that the PC version's always online. Yeah, while there's console-versions out there of D3 that have NO DRM and do work offline.

Definitely not buying this game.

Def. Not buying this game and thinking twice about buying another game on GoG. Christ, I need a new hobby.

The point still stands, though: it's a good idea for people (generally speaking) to look/check before buying things :)

I have the game on Steam (paid for it) and Epic (it was free there, so of course I grabbed it there) - and yeah, Hitman 1 GOTY, as a game, is really good.

I don't really like all of the online-only nonsense for the extras for SP-style (Single Player) stuff w/ all of the unlocks and whatnot being always online, as you can play this stuff alone. It's not like you're playing w/ others online.

To have an offline Hitman 1: GOTY where all the unlocks, progression, and whatnot was allowed offline - yeah, I'd love to see that happen. I'd definitely be interested, if it was dirt-cheap on GOG. And honestly, since this is GOG - this is how it should've been re-worked, re-coded, and re-done and all, when it came here - as this crowd here wants their games without DRM garbage.

The best part was when hitman 3 came out it was unplayable https://twitter.com/IOInteractive/status/1352585318072020997?s=19


Unless you deleted your profile

Oh wow! So now people are trying to establish a totalitarian regime on GOG?