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Hunt: Showdown 1896 News

The Rise Up Dead Man - Anniversary Collection



The Rise Up Dead Man Anniversary Collection by Port Sulphur Band is now available on Steam ! 🎶

Seven years, seven versions of Hunt’s most legendary track. From the iconic Humming Theme to the brand new Bones and Bounties version, experience Rise Up Dead Man like never before.

Get it now:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3548900/Hunt_Showdown_1896__Port_Sulphur_Band__Rise_Up_Dead_Man_Anniversary_Collection/

Get 15% off on our new release, as well as the entire Port Sulphur Band Collection using the bundle here:

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/50739/Hunt_Showdown_1896__Soundtrack_Collection/

Celebrating 7 Years of Hunt!


Hunters,

Tomorrow we’re celebrating our 7th anniversary! To start, we want to thank you all for being on this incredible journey with us. Through all the ups and downs, we are extremely grateful to have a community that cares so deeply about Hunt. Seven years down, and we can’t wait for many more, bringing you face-to-face with untold horrors in the backwaters of Louisiana and Colorado.

We will be celebrating this momentous occasion with some giveaways, anniversary sales, news from Port Sulphur Band, and more! We even have some interesting Hunt factoids to share.

DID YOU KNOW:

Ever wondered how many Hunters have been kicked to death by a horse? Us too. So, in the spirit of seven years of Hunt, here are some interesting stats you guys have racked up since Hunt: Showdown 1896 began:

  • 1,010 Hunters have been delivered their mortal blow by a horse

  • 33,569 Hunters have died thanks to Dog Cages

  • 94,429,355 total Targets have been ended by Hunters

  • 16,527,398,805 total monsters have been slain


Hunt Partner Showcase

We’re showcasing some of the greatest clips from our Partners - because Hunt wouldn’t be the same without them!

Many of our Hunt Partners have been with us for years, with some by our side from the very beginning. To celebrate their contribution to the project, we have created a video recapping their evolution from Rookie to Veteran, and the many years through which we have grown together.

Watch our Partner Showcase | 7 Years of Hunt:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

‘Rise Up Dead Man’ Anniversary Collection

Our beloved Port Sulphur Band are also excited to be involved in the anniversary celebrations as they release the Rise Up Dead Man Anniversary Collection!

Available to stream on Spotify starting February 23st and heading to Steam for purchase on February 27th, this special collection features seven versions of the iconic Hunt track “Rise Up Dead Man” to celebrate seven years of Hunt. It includes a range of variations, from the original Hunt “Humming Theme” battle anthem to a never-before-heard slowed down “Bones and Bounties” version.

As of last year, this legendary track has amassed more than 10 million streams across all platforms.

Find out more about Rise Up Dead Man Anniversary Collection on Spotify: Spotify – Rise up Dead Man Anniversary Collection

Let the gunshots ring!


The History of Hunt: Showdown

The game began its journey on February 22nd, 2018, as we launched into Early Access on Steam and the Hunt: Showdown we know, and love today was born.

Over the years, we have introduced new weapons, maps, and signature in-game Events, from our very first Halloween Event in 2020 to our most recent collaboration for Post Malone’s Murder Circus. Events like Blood and Ice, Light the Shadow, and the Moon trilogy introduced new challenges, evolving Hunters, and even environmental changes. Then in 2021, DeSalle arrived and expanded the bayou with vertical map design that quickly became a community favorite. There is almost too much to look back on!

The past year has been our most monumental yet, with Mammon’s Gulch, the CRYENGINE 5.11 integration, and the launch of Hunt: Showdown 1896. Now, we look to the future as we roll out a new initiative in 2025 that looks to stabilize performance, improve gameplay features, and more.

Anniversary Sales:

From February 21st to March 3rd, we're celebrating Hunt’s anniversary in the Blood Bond Store with exclusive discounts, special Bundles, and daily deals!

Throughout the celebration, up to six exciting Bundles will be available in the store, alongside various discounts on all partner Skins.

Each day, you can expect a massive 50% discount on a featured item, a special 48 Blood Bond offer, and a rotating selection of ~15 discounted items ranging from 20% to 40% off (refreshes at 07:00 CET).


Newsletter Giveaway:

If you haven't signed up for our player newsletter, then now is the time. We are giving away anniversary celebration Hunt Dollars to all subscribers until Monday 24th February.

Player newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive giveaways and content, as well as all of our news and updates direct to your inbox. Join before Monday 24th to receive your anniversary bonus.

You can subscribe today at the bottom of the Hunt page here by entering your email address.

To conclude, we are so grateful for our seven-year journey together and we are looking proudly into the future of Hunt. Rest assured—the road ahead is long and full of new adventures.


- Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 team

Developer Insight: Update 2.3 Changes & Priorities


Hunters,

We are entering 2025 with an initiative to focus on performance, fixes, and improving player trust. Today, we want to tackle some concerns regarding new features and overall game balance, as well as how we will address these issues in coming updates.

From Update 2.3 onwards, we plan to reverse some previous decisions around the power creep of certain weapons and Traits, as well as fixing some long-standing issues that impact gameplay, and more. This will go hand in hand with additional focus on stability, bug fixing, and performance improvements for an overall smoother experience.

Here are some of the reverts you can expect from update 2.3:

  • The Lightfoot Trait no longer allows for silent crouching for solo Hunters.
  • Revive Bolts are now Scarce, and can only be looted from dead Hunters and come with less ammunition (we plan on revising them further in future updates).
  • The Krag will now have slightly reduced extra ammo capacity (from 12 to 10; used to be 8 last year) and goes up in cost to 450 Hunt Dollars to encourage more arsenal variety.
  • The Uppercut will be made cheaper again, dropping to 310 Hunt Dollars.
  • The Surefoot Trait will no longer have faster crouch speed and will go up in cost to 6 Upgrade Points
  • It will now require three Bear Traps to kill an enemy Hunter, allowing players to avoid using a single Tool slot choice which allows for easy insta-kill trap setups on their own without using explosive barrels, extra traps found in the world, or the Frontiersman Trait.
  • Melee Tools will cause more damage to Targets, and there are more in-world melee weapons spawned near Boss Target lairs again.
  • Pull-out damage from stuck projectiles is back up to a meaningful level of damage. We’ll talk about how this affects Traits like Blademancer and Berserker at a later time.


We’ve also spent a lot of time on fixing some of our more challenging, long-standing bugs:

  • We refactored the poison damage system to prevent issues around the effects not disappearing correctly.
  • Hanging chains and other sound traps will no longer block attacks during combat.
  • Concertina wire should no longer damage players through walls and ceilings.


Lastly, here are some of our upcoming changes you can expect in 2.3:

  • The Fast Fingers Trait has been added to the Martini-Henry IC1 and Maynard Sniper families.
  • The Bolt Thrower Trait now also works for the Bomb Lance and Bomb Launcher.
  • Weekly Challenges are now coming in random weekly sets to reduce the chance of individual weapons dominating entire weeks.
  • The Conduit Trait now gives solo Hunters double the stamina reward and progresses two Clue steps with one interaction.
  • The Vetterli has been given an improved rate-of-fire in ADS with the Iron Eye Trait, while the Centennial’s rate-of-fire has been reduced slightly at the same time.
  • Players can now disarm and pick up Dark Dynamite Satchels, storing them back in their inventory (if they have a free slot).


As we said last year, Update 2.3 will be lighter on new content and features as we focus on actioning more bug fixes and improvements. We will be focusing on stability, performance, and more, ultimately raising the quality of your gameplay experience significantly.

Moving forward through 2025, we will still be bringing unique new Events, but at a lower frequency and with a priority on delivering those key improvements over new content.

We strongly feel that this is the best path forward as we consolidate and stabilize the game. We will share more on the contents of Update 2.3 and future Events as we draw closer.


– Hunt: Showdown 1896 team






Developer Insight- Upcoming UI Improvements


Hunters,

Thank you all for your feedback since the release of Hunt: Showdown 1896, especially regarding the UI changes. Your insights have been invaluable. We recognize that some of our recent redesigns fell short of delivering the functionality and usability you came to expect.

Many of the changes were initially aimed at improving the console player experience, but we understand now that some of the new screens sacrificed functionality that was key to the PC experience.

Today, we’re going to discuss the screens we are prioritizing to adjust throughout the year: Loadouts, Team Details, Post-Mission Summary, and the Pause Menu.

Loadouts Redesign

The loadout screen is critical for quickly equipping favorite setups, but the current design isn’t making this process intuitive. Here’s how we’re improving it:

  • Custom loadouts will return to a vertical list format, so we can display 10 custom loadouts at once.
  • Both custom loadouts and Hunter loadouts will now display side-by-side to reduce memory strain.
  • Actions for overwriting and selecting loadouts will be clearer.
  • The Gear screen will display the name of the loadout being edited to reduce confusion when stepping away from the game.
  • A “Loadouts” tab is being added to the top navigation for quicker access, especially the lobby.




Team Details

The current Team Details screen presents a lot of icons and colors while only showing a few teams at once. Our redesign aims to simplify and enhance this experience via the improvements below:

  • The number of teams displayed will increase.
  • A three-color icon system will clarify actions:

    • Gold represents your actions.
    • Blue represents your teammates’ actions.
    • Red represents enemy actions.

    This color-based icon system aims to make actions and interactions clearer and more consistent.


  • Numbers and tooltips will now display for items with multiple instances, reducing the need to decipher multiple icons.
  • The Legend has been moved to the actions menu, allowing more of the screen to remain visible in the background. It’s now more compact, with items organized into groups.
  • Timelines for all teams will toggle open simultaneously, eliminating the need to manually activate them one by one.




Post-Mission Summary

While our goal was to modernize the post-Mission summary, we’ve realized the removal of Accolade Cards and their animations detracted from the game’s identity. Here’s how we’re addressing that:

  • After a Mission, players will immediately see their Accolades, complete with new animations to celebrate your achievements.
  • A comprehensive Mission Stats screen and Weekly Challenge progression will follow, putting critical information front and center.
  • Sub-menus will be consolidated into tabs at the top to streamline navigation and reduce friction.




Pause Menu Enhancements

We’ve prioritised context and quick access to critical information in multiplayer Missions:

  • The game will now remain visible in the background of the pause menu, preserving situational awareness.
  • Your team’s loadouts will move out of sub-menus and be the first thing you see for quick reference during Missions.

After implementing these updates, our focus will shift toward refining other planned Quality of Life improvements. Along the way, we’ll also identify and introduce smaller adjustments to further enhance your overall experience.

Equipment Skin Selection

We’ve heard your feedback about the inconvenience of navigating to a separate menu to select Skins for your equipment. To address this, we’ve brought Skin selection directly to the Equipment Grid.

  • Integrated Skin Selection: Players will be able to toggle through their owned Skins for their equipment directly within the Equipment Grid.

  • Future Enhancements: We’re also working on improving the flow for equipping Charms and Equipment Animations, with more details to come later.




Recruit Free Hunters

We’ve heard your concerns about the difficulty of comparing recruits effectively. To address this, we’re reverting to an older design:

All four Hunters and their loadouts will now be visible simultaneously, reducing memory strain and back-and-forth navigation.



Hunter Details Improvements

PC players have often felt that the Hunter Details screen was redundant, since they could interact with all widgets present directly from the previous screen. The primary concern was having to navigate to a separate screen for actions that felt too similar. To address this, we are removing the distinction between the two screens, creating a more seamless experience. We aim to make Hunter Details a focused view of the active roster while retaining access to your other Hunters.

  • Integrated Hunter Grid: When a Hunter is selected, the grid will now minimize to the bottom of the screen, allowing quick access to other Hunters without leaving the current view.

  • Streamlined Transition: Hunter Details will act as a transitional screen, letting you maintain focus on your current Hunter while keeping other options easily accessible.

  • Top Navigation: The top navigation bar will now remain visible in Hunter Details, providing direct access to other key screens like Loadouts, Lobby, and Store.




Events Screen

To improve the flow between the Battle Pass rewards screen and the rest of the UI, we are streamlining navigation and functionality.

  • Direct Access to Rewards: Clicking the Battle Pass tab in the top navigation now takes you directly to the Rewards screen, removing the need for an intermediate menu.

  • Integrated Event Details: Other Event-related screens, such as Event Details, will now be accessible directly from the Rewards screen.

  • Equip/Recruit Items Directly: Players can now equip unlocked equipment and Skins, as well as recruit Hunters, directly from the Rewards screen. This eliminates the need to navigate to other screens to use newly unlocked equipment or Hunters.


Visual Improvements

Feedback about our rarity backgrounds indicated that they felt out of place, being overly colorful compared to the rest of the UI. Our team has worked to ensure these elements align better with the overall aesthetic while enhancing the focus on equipment and Hunters.

  • Lighting Updates: All equipment and Hunters will now feature improved lighting, making them stand out more against dark backgrounds and reducing their grey tones.

  • Refined Rarity Displays: Rarity colors are now more subtle, shown in the corners of items instead of dominating the background. This change ensures the items themselves remain the primary focus while keeping the rarity indicators consistent with the UI’s overall look.


Lobby Improvements

We’ve heard your feedback on the Home screen and Lobby, and will share our progress in an upcoming update. Our goal is to unify Lobbies into a single screen while also improving party management with these much-requested features:

  • Adding the ability for Duos to matchmake a random third player.
  • Retaining parties when switching game modes.
  • Allowing any party member (not just the leader) to send invites.
  • Enabling PC players to invite two players at once.
  • Allowing party leadership to be transferred between members.


We’re committed to making Hunt: Showdown 1896 the best experience it can be. These updates reflect our dedication to listening, learning, and improving based on your feedback. We look forward to bringing these improvements to you throughout 2025. Thank you for your continued support—we couldn’t do this without you.

NOTE: All the images featured in this post are not final and are subject to change before the final product is released.

– Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 team