IO doesn't want to refer to Hitman as an Early Access title in case some fans incorrectly assume the game is "unpolished and buggy", studio head Hannes Seifert has told VideoGamer.com.
The game is set to launch with a limited amount of content this December, with additional mission content set to roll out in waves throughout 2016.
But according to Seifert, "everything we launch will be finished, polished and completed. When people hear Early Access they often think unfinished, unpolished and buggy. That's the opposite [to what we're doing].
"So as I don't mind the actual word, I mind the associations that many people have with that, and we think that could drive people in the wrong mindset because that's not what we're going to do. It's going to be extremely polished."
Some fans have previously compared Hitman's launch plans to Codemasters' DiRT Rally, a similarly well-polished experience that launched on Steam Early Access earlier this year and that will be expanded upon with additional content throughout 2015.
Seifert, however, says that he hasn't played Codemasters' title so "can't refer to that".
Seifert also moved to assure fans that any additional content in Hitman "will not cost any cent more", and that there will not be any form of microtransactions.
"There is nothing hidden away you could even spend extra money on," he said. "That is very important to us."
Despite being unhappy with the leak itself, Seifert also says that he was pleased with the reaction generated by the leaked footage of Hitman's alpha test last month.
"When you release something to the world you kind of know what's going to happen," he said of the leak.
"You can still hope that people don't do it because we tried to be open and honest, we were very clear and it was a very limited amount of people that got [access]. But it happens. It's something we have to accept. This is what our industry is. Are we happy about it? No. Are we happy about the reactions it created. Yeah."
Hitman launches on PS4, Xbox One and PC on December 8.
