For the first time since the touted feature launched alongside Crayta last year, State Share with Stadia games has arrived to a new game. Players can take advantage of it in Hitman 3.
State Share is a Stadia-exclusive feature that allows players to create a shareable link to their video game sessions precisely as they've left them. Think of it as a Google Doc, but with video games. In the feature's debut alongside game creation station Crayta, players could create shareable game builds with others so they could instantly and easily collaborate.
The feature makes a ton of sense for such a game because it's all about iterating on ideas, planning renovations to user-generated content, and tweaking things sometimes in short order. To send someone a link and instantly have them appear by your side ready to test out your level or help finetune the gameplay made for a wise debut for State Share.
The feature now arrives in Hitman 3, as well as retroactively coming to Hitman and Hitman 2, which Stadia Pro members can still grab with their subscription at the time of writing. In Hitman, State Share acts almost like the Contracts game mode. Players create parameters such as where in the level you are, what weapons you have available, and how the world is responding to you.
Hitman is normally a series about staying incognito, but one could, for example, make a level where you're dressed as a clown at a Paris fashion show with the only weapon you have on you being a fish. Sharing Hitman games like this also means giving players access to items they may not have unlocked yet.
Stadia says each studio can decide how it will utilize the State Share tools, so it's not a one-size-fits-all mechanic for players nor for creators. It will be most interesting to see how first-party games from Stadia Games and Entertainment use it in the future.
