Google Stadia Launching New Gameplay Feature Usable in Hitman 3

Google Stadia is releasing an innovative new gameplay feature next week alongside the launch of Hitman 3 on January 20th. That new feature is called "State Share," and with it, Google Stadia users will be able to share things like a custom Hitman 3 level with friends and other by using nothing more than a unique URL. The feature will be usable throughout the entire Hitman – World of Assassination trilogy and will be supported in other Google Stadia games as well.

According to the Google Stadia team, the feature "turns a normal image or video capture into a portal to a unique game experience." What that means in games like Hitman 3 is that players can capture an instance in their game that includes elements like difficulty and loadouts and can then share that with others.

"By embedding a game state within each capture, sharing gameplay for others to watch is transformed into a chance to try a playable slice of the game yourself," said the blog post about the new Google Stadia feature. "Each game state is defined by specific gameplay elements like player loadout, objectives, and difficulty, and trying each one is as easy as clicking a link."

We're excited to announce that State Share, the newest Stadia Enhanced Feature, is launching on January 20th. Capture a playable slice of a game & share it instantly with friends to try for themselves.

Check out our community blog for additional details: https://t.co/sn6ZLle12p pic.twitter.com/vJcFz4F4yF

— Stadia (@GoogleStadia) January 15, 2021

Catherine Hsiao, a product manager within the Google Stadia team, shared some more insights into now the system works.

"State Share allows players to capture a unique game state - a playable slice of the game itself - to share with friends within a link to the gameplay screenshot or video clip," Hsiao said. "Every game that supports State Share will feature game states with different gameplay elements included, such as the player's current items, difficulty level, objectives, and more. So it's really as easy as saving a capture on Stadia and sharing the link with friends, viewers, or followers so they can click to launch the game and play for themselves."

In Hitman 3 and the other games within the trilogy, players will be able to capture custom missions and campaign moments with the State Share feature. These State Shares will be treated as unique instances of playable moments that won't affect players' own progressions through the story, so if someone sends you a Hitman 3 State Share that includes something you haven't unlocked yet, you can try it without having to worry about it advancing you too far ahead.

State Share will be supported in other games as well, but a full list of those that'll support it and how the feature will be implemented there hasn't been given yet.