What Is The Peacock Project and How Does It Replace HITMAN's Servers?

Updated

The Peacock Project is a local replacement for HITMAN's official servers that runs on your own machine. It's aimed at players who already own the game and want to play without depending on the live official servers, with a focus on speed (minimal latency, lag, and delay) and a short setup process. According to the project's homepage, setup takes less than 3 minutes once you own the game and join their Discord, and the project ships exclusive custom content every month.

What it actually replaces

HITMAN normally talks to online servers for things like progression, contracts, and other live-service features. Peacock stands in for those servers by running locally on your machine instead of on remote infrastructure. The practical effect is that the game's server-dependent functions are handled by software you control, which is why the project describes itself as a "replacement for HITMAN's servers that runs on your machine."

Because it runs locally, the project emphasizes speed: latency, lag, and delays are called out as things it tries to eliminate wherever possible. That's the main technical reason a local server can feel different from a remote one — there's no round trip to a distant data center.

Why players use it

  • Offline-style play: the server runs on your machine rather than relying on official servers being up.
  • Lower latency: local handling avoids network round trips, which the project highlights as a core goal.
  • Custom content: the project says it features exclusive, custom content every month.
  • Extensibility: plugins are distributed through their Discord to add new features and game modes.

How setup works

The homepage describes the process in general terms rather than as a step-by-step guide, so treat this as the shape of it:

  1. Own the game. The project states setup assumes you own HITMAN.
  2. Join the Discord. This is the entry point for the setup process, support, update notifications, and plugins.
  3. Follow the Installation Guide. The homepage links an Installation Guide and explicitly says to read the instructions before installing.
  4. Run the less-than-3-minute setup. The project describes the setup itself as taking under 3 minutes.

The homepage does not publish the detailed install steps, file locations, or version requirements — those live in the Installation Guide and Discord. So the reliable move is to read the guide first, then install, rather than improvising.

Requirements and caveats

  • You need to own HITMAN. The project frames setup around already owning the game.
  • Read the instructions before installing. The homepage states this directly, which suggests the order of operations matters.
  • Discord is the support and distribution channel. Updates, support, and plugins come through it, so it isn't optional if you want the full feature set.
  • Pricing isn't stated on the homepage. The page shows no pricing signals, so don't assume it's free or paid based on the homepage alone — check the Installation Guide and Discord for current terms.

What it is not

Peacock is not a mod that changes the game's content by itself, and it's not an official IO Interactive service. It's a server replacement: it takes over the server role so the game can run against a local implementation. Custom content and plugins are additions layered on top through the project's own channels, not part of the base game.

If you own HITMAN and want server-independent play with a fast local setup, the path is: join the Discord, read the Installation Guide, then run the setup. If you don't own the game, or you're not comfortable installing community software and reading its instructions first, this isn't the right fit.