In a livestream, the developers of Hunt: Showdown reveal what’s next in the coming months. We summarise the most important key points.
In an hour and a half long developer livestream, the makers of Hunt: Showdown talked about their plans for the future. They talked about short-term innovations and changes with the 1.8 update for the end of March, as well as further plans for the rest of the year.
In this overview, we summarise the most important announcements made by Community Manager Rick Taylor and Social Media Manager Bence Hamos – if you want to know all the details, you can also watch the recording of the entire broadcast above. And here we go:
Table of Contents
New weapons and variants
Crytek will continue to stock up the arsenal of Hunt: Showdown with new guns from the Wild West era. They will not be released directly with update 1.8, but are already available for testing on the test server. The following weapons have been announced:
- Winfield 1893 Slate: A new pump shotgun with a 6-round tubular magazine. This shotgun shoots faster than the Specter, but the range is shorter. Slugs and Pennyshot cartridges can also be loaded.
- Caldwell 92 New Army: A new 6-shot revolver with a fast double-action trigger. It is similar to the Nagant Officer but inflicts more damage. The barrel can be folded out to the side for reloading.
- Berthier Riposte: This new variant of the already included Berthier is equipped with a bayonet and thus ideal for close combat.
- Scottfield Brawler: A shortened version of the already included Scottfield revolver with fixed brass knuckles for close combat.
Unfair Skin Revised
The hunter Cain, who is hated by Hunt players, is being adapted and should now be much more visible. The developers have primarily revised the colouring of the skin. Because of Cain (Pay2Win accusations had been raised), as the character merges too much with the environment. The new Cain version will appear in update 1.8 at the end of March.
Maps improved
Multiple critical locations on existing maps are being reworked. Among other things, the developers are placing new cover elements at Cypress Huts on Stillwater Bayou, where the open terrain often caused frustration. The developers have rebuilt more than a dozen areas based on player feedback, and the changes will be incorporated into the game with update 1.8 at the end of March.
New Event
A new in-game event is also scheduled to take place in March 2022. So far Crytek doesn’t give any details, but shared a teaser clip on Twitter – apparently the event is related to the full moon:
Traitor’s Moon is coming soon…. pic.twitter.com/Seqpc4rEQS
– Hunt: Showdown I 4th Anniversary (@HuntShowdown) March 12, 2022
Events in Hunt: Showdown mostly add secondary mission objectives to the maps and bring new variants for items and weapons.
Performance Tool
Those who have been struggling with jerkiness or framerate problems in Hunt: Showdown will have a new tool at their fingertips: Crytek is bringing back a revised version of the Lightweight Profiler, which monitors the technology in the background and identifies problems. Players can simply activate the diagnostic tool in the menu.
New progression system
In order to provide more long-term motivation, Crytek wants to provide a better sense of progression and is addressing two areas to do so:
- Quests: The Daily and Weekly Challenges will be replaced with a “more exciting and motivating” system, according to Crytek. A first version of the quests is scheduled to be released in April or May.
- Prestige: The previously known prestige mechanic is to be expanded or replaced with a new system to give long-term players new goals. Details are not yet known.
New boss and enemy
Crytek confirms for the first time that they are working on a new boss monster. But don’t get too excited: Currently, the project is still in the early concept phase. You should definitely not expect the new boss in the next six months, warns Crytek. We therefore assume a boss release at Christmas or in spring 2023.
At least there will be other new enemies by then. For example, two new variants for the zombie grunts have been confirmed for the second quarter of 2022, which are supposed to resemble the miner or the doctor. Later, other AI variants are to be introduced gradually.
Interface improvements
The menus are also to be improved. The developers want to overhaul the somewhat confusing equipment screen and polish up the end-of-match screen after player death. For example, it should provide even more team details and a better overview.
As a small teaser, Crytek also announces a new teamwork feature towards the end of the broadcast, but does not reveal any details about it yet. More information will follow soon.
What is the current status of Hunt? Last August, Steam player numbers reached a new high and more and more well-known shooter brands want to copy Hunt. This is no coincidence: Crytek’s unique PvPvE horror mix was able to push into new scoring regions in the GameStar test at the end of 2021 thanks to its numerous improvements from the last few years.
Which new feature in Hunt are you most looking forward to? And what would you like to see in the next big boss? Feel free to write us your opinion on the roadmap in the comments!
