The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
Wikipedia[3][5][6] lists 20 April 2004 in North America and 30 April in Europe; IGN's[2] 20 April 2004 article 'Hitman: Contracts Ships' (opened) contains the date.
IGN article of 20 April 2004 on the game shipping.
Series article listing the entry in the franchise's release order.[1]
Steam store page for the PC release; lists a Steam release date of Jan 21, 2014 (a digital re-release, not the original release).[1]
Eidos Interactive published the game; Square Enix acquired Eidos in 2009.[1]
Something missing or wrong? Say it in your own words: a link that backs this pin up, a different start or end date and why, or a fact it lacks or gets wrong. The AI checks it against this pin's sources, searches for better ones, and adds any page that backs you up. The pin's own sources still count most. A picture that shows something else, or shows it badly, is looked at too, and moved down or replaced.