Veteran voice actor David Bateson will voice Agent 47 in Hitman: Absolution, Square Enix has announced.

The publisher had previously said that Bateson - who has played Agent 47 in all the games in the series - would not provide voice work for the actor, sparking an online petition.

However, Bateson is now back on board. Hitman brand director Jon Brooke said, "IO and Bateson have been bed fellows for over a decade and like all long running relationships sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder. Looking back I think we were just playing hard to get."

Meanwhile, Square Enix also announced that William Mapother, who played Ethan Rom in Lost, has provided the motion capture work for Agent 47.

Hitman: Absolution is out on November 20th in North America and November 23rd in Europe. Sneak up on our latest preview here.