Crytek has unveiled the latest Hunt: Showdown roadmap. This year, the PvPvE shooter is getting a full quest system to replace its current challenges, as well as tweaks to AI, changes to the progression system, and new weapon animations, plus much more.
What's in the latest Hunt: Showdown roadmap?
Crytek says that its latest Hunt: Showdown roadmap is focused largely on updating and maintaining the "service aspects" of the game. This means that the upcoming Hunt: Showdown 1.8 update will not be a content-driven patch, which is what numbered updates usually are. Instead, it will be "service-driven" and will bring performance improvements on both the server and client side. It'll also feature new Tier 2 menu weapon animations, new Legendary stuff, and a live event coming towards the end of this month. There will be a dev live stream soon that focuses on this event, so keep an eye out for that for more info.
Starting from Q2 this year, Crytek plans to implement its new quest system. It's intended to replace the daily and weekly challenges that Hunt: Showdown currently has, and will include quests aimed at beginners and experts alike, as well as players of intermediate skill. After the quest system is released, Crytek says it's going to iterate on the system and develop it further. The studio is remaining vague on exactly how that's going to work, so we'll have to wait for more info on that. Q2 will also bring new AI tweaks and bug fixes to Hunt: Showdown.
Looking ahead to further on in the year, Hunt: Showdown update 1.9 is looking to introduce a "brand-new feature" to the game. It's intended to combat camping and engender co-operation, but since this feature is still undergoing development, we'll likely learn more about it in the future. You're also getting some quality-of-life UI tweaks, as well as region locks for online play. Finally, Crytek says it's looking to work on Hunt: Showdown's progression systems, including prestige. More info about that will be available in the future. It's well worth taking a look at the full Steam rundown if you want more detail.
What is Hunt: Showdown?
Hunt: Showdown is a competitive multiplayer shooter with elements of PvE and PvP gameplay. You play as a Hunter, and it's your responsibility to hunt down the malformed monstrosities that now haunt the Louisiana bayou. As you hunt, you'll come up against other Hunters who might be after the same prize, so you'll have to contend not only with your foes, but also with like-minded Hunters. The game supports solo and team play modes, and also allows for permanent progression via the Bloodline system. Crytek's IP has proven a pretty big hit; late last year, a Hunt: Showdown TV show was confirmed to be in the works.
You can grab Hunt: Showdown right now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game is, of course, also playable on current-gen platforms thanks to the magic of backwards compatibility. If you're on the fence about checking this one out, be sure to take a look at our review to get the lowdown on whether it's worth your time or not. One thing's for sure, though: Crytek says it's planning to support Hunt: Showdown "for many years to come", so this game isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
