First Hitman ad to debut during Euro 2012 final

Hitman Absolution will get its first TV ad on Sunday (July 1st), during the European Championship final between Italy and Spain.

The ITV ad is 60 seconds long and is part of Square Enix’s bid to make this year’s stealth action game one of the Top Five biggest sellers of the year.

"The first TV advert for a game as anticipated as Hitman Absolution needs to be a big spot in a big event," said UK marketing director Jon Brooke.

"So we’re excited about our one off 60-second creative in the Euro Championship Final, it’s our commitment that alongside groundbreaking announcements like Sniper Challenge we will back Hitman Absolution to be a top five game for Q4. The advert will also be available to watch online at YouTube.com/Hitman from the 2nd July."

The news follows incredible pre-orders for the game thanks to Square Enix’s ambitious campaign, giving early adopters a free copy of Hitman Sniper Challenge to play immediately. The publisher says it has never seen such demand for a game, while ShopTo says the Absolution has outstripped Halo, Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed as their most pre-ordered game for Q4.

"Since the Hitman Sniper Challenge pre order bonus went live on ShopTo.net it has propelled it to become the highest pre order title for the peak 2012 key SKUs.Week-on-week pre-orders more than doubled and consumer feedback through our social media platforms has been excellent," says ShopTo purchasing director James Rowson.

MCV and Square Enix are running a Hitman Sniper Challenge trade competition. Click here for more information.