Announced recently, The Barcode Society is a fan community run by IO Interactive and Publisher Square-Enix. Here, fans can enjoy information about their favorite bald assassin, Agent 47. Chock full of fan content and free giveaways, the release of Hitman: Absolution appears to reach all new highs as coverage of the game increases in the coming months. Sadly, there is no word yet on the possible release date of a sequel for the 2007 film.

As evident by other weblog content, there was a recent Hitman novel give-away on the site where two lucky fans won a copy of Hitman: Enemy Within. Hitman: Enemy Within is a book set between Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Blood Money, the 3rd game in the franchise.

A more recent book is Hitman: Damnation which is a prequel novel set before Hitman: Absolution that bridges the gap between Absolution and Hitman: Blood Money. Hitman: Absolution has not been slated for a release date but fans are certainly hoping it will be soon.  Absolution will be available for PC, PS3 and Xbox360.

The site features tons of news and other goodies that no fan of Agent 47 should miss. This includes news articles about the newest aspects of Agent 47′s development that date back from last year, now compiled into one place for all fans to enjoy. Addtionally, recent art work featured on the site is done by artist Patrick Brown with links to his Facebook and DeviantArt Pages.

With SOPA and PIPA legislation in the works, it is refreshing to see Eidos and IO Interactive feature fan made content on their website. It gives budding film makers the chance to show their skills and hopefully get some decent exposure. You’ll find a lot of these fan made videos inside The Vault while the artworks are found in both The Vault and the Community tab.

The Vault is a wealth of history in itself, as there are screenshots and video footage of every Hitman video game ever developed inside. Included is also some artwork, wallpapers and community videos on each game. There is official video logged from every game and also community-made videos that are both exciting and hilarious. Changing legislation with SOPA would obviously reduce the effectiveness of the Barcode Society website.

The community section includes links to all the external networks where fans can find most of the scattered Agent 47 content. With links to YouTube, Twitter and forums, coverage is already quite extensive. There is also a community art section which links to the idea of a community sharing content with one another in a streamlined format to reduce content overlapping. Links to Facebook and DeviantArt are also included for fans who want to contact the original artists.

The Forum threads many of the community questions together into one area which serves as a sounding board for the fans as well as the game developers. The Forum also includes select goodies such as previous Agent 47 magazine covers and fan suggestions for weapons and tactics that will be seen by developers. It is near to life imitating art as fans may influence developers in ways that are rarely so streamlined.

The site is a unique experience for fans of Agent 47 because it showcases our favorite bald assassin in all his suited glory. It gives Agent 47 a new and exclusive way to shine through in a gaming industry, quickly filling up with assassins and other hunters. There is plenty of free content for fans to go around and enjoy with this single unified website that serves as a portal into Agent 47′s life.

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