Hunt: Showdown 1896 News

We've got another Developer Insight video for you, and this one is all about UI improvements.

After taking critical feedback from the community, we're working hard to streamline and improve the usability of this latest iteration.

Take a look and see for yourself.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Taker of Trophies, our latest DLC, is now available to wishlist!

Skulls are the true mark of a Hunter's worth, greater than any story of slaughtered prey. Armed with Hidden Strike (Krag Sniper) and Liar's Bite (Sparks Pistol), Skull Taker has his fair share of trophies. Should he catch you in his traps... your skull will be next.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3204810/Hunt_Showdown_1896__Taker_of_Trophies/

Hello, Hunters!

Today, we're pulling back the curtain to discuss more on our development process, giving you a clearer picture of how we prioritize and work on new content, bug fixes, and feedback-driven changes.

As a live-service title, Hunt requires a detailed roadmap that takes into account lead times of 6 to 9 months for most major features and Events. When it comes to planning and rolling out new content, the process isn’t about decision making week-to-week, but rather setting larger course adjustments based on your feedback and our long-term goals for the game.

It’s important to note that every new feature, balance change, or content update has undergone extensive planning and development before it reaches you. This means that when you see large updates or new content, they’ve likely been in motion for months, built from a foundation of feedback, data analysis, and internal discussions.

As we move towards the new year, we are pivoting heavily towards bug fixes, UI, and quality-of-life improvements, with our first two updates of the year focusing exclusively on these. We will be looking to release a new roadmap for 2025 and beyond to provide some insight into what players can expect to see over the next few months.

This approach was set into motion as soon as these critical issues surfaced with the launch of 1896. While we have worked on implementing fixes and improvements wherever possible since then, it illustrates how the turnaround time for major changes in a live-service project can be shaped by development plans established months earlier.

We’re dedicating resources to improving stability and performance, squashing long-standing bugs, and refining the UI. Since August, we’ve rolled out lists of fixes and improvements in each update, and you can expect even more throughout December and well into the future. We intend to keep this momentum going, with enhancements taking precedence over new weapons, mechanics, or Event content at the start of the new year.

We understand how valuable a roadmap is for the community, and they’re a great tool for setting a clear course of action on the game—but they’re not perfect. When we release our plans for over a year or more, they’re vulnerable to delays and technical challenges that are a normal part of game development. This can sometimes cause missed deliveries to look like broken promises, when in reality those features are just taking us longer than expected.

We will be continuing to drop more Developer Insights over the next few weeks to show you more of what we have been working on behind the scenes, including UI, monetization, network & matchmaking, fair play, Hunter evolution, and more.

Every bug report, survey response, and community discussion shapes what we prioritize and how we develop.

Thank you for taking part in shaping the future of Hunt.

Hunters,

Cosplay has been a huge cornerstone of the community since the beginning of Hunt! As part of our Halloween celebrations, we ran our latest cosplay contest: Dressed to Die. We were blown away by your response and the creative ideas you came up with! Our panel of judges had the painstaking task of whittling it down to 12 cosplays and you, the community, have now decided on your winners!

1st Place
Taking first place is Cyperian Workshop with your awesome cosplay of Harvest! Congratulations from us and all of the community! You have won the top prize which includes some exclusive Hunt merch*, a Hunt Displate*, 5 DLC, a Hunt base game key, and 2,000 Blood Bonds!


2nd Place
The second-place winner is Daria Madra with your insane Frau Perchta cosplay. You have won yourself a Hunt Displate*, 2 DLC, a Hunt base game key, and 2,000 Blood Bonds!


3rd Place
The third-place winner is Courtney Leigh with your beautiful rendition of Llorona’s Heir. You’ve won yourself 2 DLC, a Hunt base game key, and 500 Blood Bonds!


4th Place
The fourth-place winner is Tete Cosplay with your killer portrayal of Luz Mala! Congrats—you have won 2 DLC, a Hunt base game key, and 500 Blood Bonds!


5th Place
The fifth-place winner is Irllydidnothing with your stunning cosplay of Daughter of Decay. Well done! You have won 2 DLC, a Hunt base game key, and 500 Blood Bonds!


Special Mention
As part of the cosplay contest, we asked our friends at Raptobot to choose a winner from their side. Raptobot is a cosplay company who took a shine to Hunt and has created awesome cosplay, booths, and weapons throughout the years. Check out their designs on Instagram and Tik Tok!

We invited them to select their favorite cosplay as an extra reward for someone from the community. Raptobot chose Dragon and their Hail Mary cosplay! Congrats, you have won 2 DLC of your choice, a Hunt base game key, and 500 Blood Bonds.


Thank you to all who participated. We were amazed at your creativity and skills to make all the magnificent cosplays! The Hunt community never disappoints when it comes to your passion, and this cosplay competition was no exception!

For all winners—you will be contacted by a member of our team to claim your prize.

Thank you again, and we look forward to seeing what you cook up in our next competition.

*Availability may vary by region

Hello, Hunters,

Performance is an evergreen focus for our development teams, and today we’re sharing some of the latest improvements we’ve been working on to ensure smooth, stable, and consistent gameplay across all platforms. We have tons of changes coming in Update 2.2 later this year, but here is a breakdown of some key updates that can give you a clear view of our ongoing efforts towards optimization.

[h3]VRAM Usage Optimization [/h3]
One of the most common issues we tackled on PC was related to VRAM usage. With this fix, VRAM management has been improved. This should improve the overall experience for players, particularly those who spent extended periods in the game and occasionally ran into VRAM overload across multiple rounds which caused a performance decrease. Rarely could a single gameplay session cause this issue as well.

[h3]Stability Enhancements for Extended Play[/h3]
On the topic of extended gameplay sessions, we received some reports of intermittent stalling and have targeted the most common sources of these disruptions. We tackled a variety of factors across PC, PS5 and Xbox and successfully eliminated several causes for the issue. This update should provide a smoother experience and more consistent FPS by resolving performance hiccups that occurred in single and longer gameplay sessions.

[h3]Level Optimizations[/h3]
Our Art and Level Design teams have also made key optimizations across several maps to improve performance. These changes have targeted specific areas known to cause frame drops or stutters on each platform. Both PC and console players alike should notice a more consistent framerate and a smoother experience, including significant improvements to performance in high-traffic areas.

[h3]Reduced Loading Times [/h3]
Lastly, we identified some underlying factors leading to longer loading times across gameplay sessions. Mainly console players and some PC specifications should now experience faster load times and a shorter wait between rounds.

As always, thank you for your feedback, which guides our improvements and helps us pinpoint what matters most.

~Crytek Team