Hunt: Showdown – Update 1.8 and the plans for Q2/Q3 2022

In a new livestream, the developers of Hunt: Showdown presented the contents of update 1.8, which is currently available on the test servers.
In addition, there was already a preview of Crytek’s plans for the next months of 2022.

Update 1.8

The latest update focuses mainly on performance and fixes. With this, the developers want to lay the foundation to improve many things server-side and client-side in the coming months.

The update is now available on the test server.

Changes for “Cain” and other hunters

The legendary hunter “Cain” was still able to hide too well in the last weeks and did not stand out enough in the game world.
With update 1.8, more skin color is visible and the hunter is more visible in different lighting conditions.

The older legendary hunters have also been adjusted as far as the first person view is concerned. Thus, to the player himself, they often looked like the ordinary hunters in terms of their clothes, tattoos and other details.
This has now been lined up with the more recent releases and you can better tell which hunter you are playing.

Lobby animations for Tier 2 hunters

With Tier 2 hunters, all available hunters now have different weapon animations that they play in the lobby screen of Hunt: Showdown.

Map Changes

Many small changes have been made to the various maps and locations. Covers have been moved or removed and transitions between areas have been improved.

The biggest change has probably been Cypruss Huts on the Stillwater Bayou map. The area has been reworked and is now much more accessible, but also offers more cover.

Legendary content

What would a Hunt: Showdown update be without new legendary content – and so update 1.8 is no exception.

• Winfield Centennial – “Old Testament” – 700 Blood Bonds
• Quad Derringer – “Revelation” – 400 Blood Bonds
• Legendary Hunter – “Hail Mary” – 900 Blood Bonds

Performance improvements: Server

There are server-side improvements for “physical entities” in the game world.
These include AI, doors, chains, and interaction objects.

Also, the AI has been improved in the “idle” state, when it has nothing to do, so it uses less server power.

Performance improvements: Client

A polling mechanism associated with the Steam API has been improved, which used to constantly poll Steam for status for various reasons, affecting the performance of the game.

This mechanism has now been mitigated and the polling is less frequent and controlled, which should result in improved performance.

Upcoming content in Q2

New Weapons: Winfield 1893 Slate & Caldwell 92 New Army

There are two new weapons that will be coming to the game in the foreseeable future. They are currently available for testing on the test server with update 1.8, but will not appear with the update for the live servers.
When and at what time they will finally appear is currently unknown.

The first new weapon is the Winfield 1893 Slate, a pump shotgun variant of the Winfield that has a 6-round magazine.
It is superior to the Spectre 1882 in many ways and also does not lose ammunition when partially reloaded.

The Caldwell 92 New Army the second new gun and is a new double action revolver with a 6-round magazine.
It will probably fall somewhere between the Nagant M1895 Officer and the Scottfield Model 3.

New event coming soon

A new event has been announced for the end of March. Other than this information, however, there isn’t much to say yet.

The developers will keep revealing information about the event over the next few weeks, and as always, there will be a developer livestream to kick things off.

New quest system

A new quest system is planned to replace the daily and weekly challenges currently available in the game.

The system is intended to introduce players to the game elements at launch, and as playtime increases and more tasks are completed, their difficulty and rewards will also increase.

The quest system is currently planned for early Q2 of 2022.

New AI variations

Along with the quest system, new AI variations are to be added to the game. For starters, there are supposed to be two new variants of the Grunts, but in the future, other variants for other AI are supposed to come into the game.
As an example, the developers mentioned the prison and doctor grunts.

Planned content for Q2 and Q3 2022

There has been more information on planned content and changes that are currently being worked on. However, the items below are just highlights and do not represent all the plans for 2022.
In terms of timeframe, this content is scheduled to be released by the end of the summer.

• Interface improvements
  • Death screen with more information
  • Team detail screen with more information
• Equipment screen improvements (usability)
• Completely new feature
  • New element for team play
  • Also functions as anti-camping mechanic
• Ping Limit – There should be limits for players not playing in “their” region
• Progression system overhaul – changes to the game progression, including the prestige system