We're thrilled to launch Hunt: Showdown 1896 today on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S! Join a whole new experience as we leap forward chronologically and head west of the bayou backwaters to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado for brand new map: Mammon's Gulch.

Taking advantage of CRYENGINE 5.11, the latest chapter of Hunt not only welcomes a new biome, Event, enemies, Wild Target, weapons, Hunters, and more, but also takes a drastic leap in visual fidelity, performance, audio, and gameplay for new and established Hunters alike.

Hunt: Showdown 1896 will be available for a free weekend between the 15th - 19th August 2024 on Steam, so if you've got a friend who you've always wanted to get into the game, now is the perfect time to introduce them to the world of Hunt!

Remember, for console players, everything you own carries over to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S!

To give you a quick overview of what's new in Hunt: Showdown 1896, check out the list below.

• New Map – Mammon's Gulch, a whole new biome set in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado
• New Wild Target – the Hellborn is Hunt's newest Wild Target who uses an onslaught of fiery attacks. Once downed, the Hellborn will grant a Bounty Token with no Banish time.
• Scorched Earth – a new Live Event giving players brand-new rewards to earn
• New CRYEINGINE 5.11 integration – ushering in upgraded visuals, audio, performance, and more
• New UI - overhauled to improve navigation, with plenty more updates to come
• Console Optimization - native 4K and 60 FPS on PS5, on Xbox Series X with 4K and 60 FPS output, and 60 FPS and 2k for Xbox Series S.

Let's dive into more details for each feature. Up first, the much-awaited new map—Mammon's Gulch.

Mammon's Gulch

Hunt: Showdown 1896 heads west of the bayou into the Rocky Mountains—say hello to Colorado! This stunning new map brings mountain vistas, suffocating mines, and abandoned towns to get lost in as it introduces a host of new tactical gameplay options for skilled Hunters.

The central network of underground mines connects various compounds, offering Hunters a discreet means of travel at the cost of extremely close quarters battle if discovered. In contrast, the verticality of soaring mountains, Watch Towers, rail tracks, and more creates enhanced vantage points, with unparalleled sight for long range shooters at the expense of the vulnerability of open air.

Bats and cows have also been added to the Colorado landscape, with the potential to give away your location to enemy Hunters if startled into making too much noise.

Watch 'Mammon's Gulch' cinematic trailer

Check out the list of compounds below:

• Blackthorn Stockyard
• Monteros Malt
• Terminus Railyard
• Grizzly Lodge
• O'Donovan Stone
• Split River Mill
• East Mountain Corn
• Deadfall Timber
• La Plata Mine
• Oro Gordo Mine
• Machine Gorge
• Kingfisher Foundry
• Graystone Pit
• The Gasworks
• Preston Oil
• Miner's Folly

The new map offers opportunities for a wide variety of potential tactical choices—choose your loadout wisely!

Hellborn

An amalgam of fire and flesh and a source of immense heat, the Hellborn can be tracked audibly by listening in Dark Sight. Boiled up from the depths of Mammon's Gulch, this new Wild Target can be found at multiple locations, stalking the land until provoked into explosive response.

Posing an entirely new threat, the Hellborn moves frantically to slag trespassing Hunters, scorching everything within its considerable reach.

Be warned—the Hellborn is best dispatched quickly, as its raging howls attract the attention of other Hunters across the Gulch, multiplying the threat minute by minute.

Performance Upgrades

As part of the integration of CRYENGINE 5.11, check out the following performance upgrades and what they mean for your game:

• A leap in visual fidelity, including improvements across textures, lighting, environments, animations, and more.
• Hunt has been upgraded to DirectX 12, which means better graphical performance and higher FPS.
• A new light cache system and specular tracing for multi-bounce Global Illumination mean higher quality lighting and more depth to environmental visuals, as well as richer darkness.
• Water and hair shaders bring the world of Hunt even further to life with more realistic hair on characters and water and rivers that have never looked better with improved foam, flow, and turbulence for increased realism.
• Adding DLSS and FSR gives the game a performance boost with higher frame rates and sharper graphics.
• Improved CrySpatial audio and audio slapback ecosystem provide improved clarity and sound definition, immersing you even further into the game.

Scorched Earth

Scorched Earth is Hunt's brand-new Event which will run between August 15th and October 7th, giving you plenty of time to rack up Event Points and earn some awesome new rewards!

Watch 'Scorched Earth' cinematic trailer

New rewards include the 1865 Carbine, the Infantry 73L base rifle with a sniper variant, Bear Traps as a new Tool, and a Crossbow Deadeye scoped variant. But that's not all—there is a host of other rewards on offer as well, including Hunters, weapons, items, and more to discover!

Earning Pledge Marks

Pledge Marks are no longer used to unlock Pact Traits and instead unlock Pledge Seals, which then provide boosts/rewards. Up to 4 Pledge Marks can be gained per Mission, with each Hunter able to hold up to 4 max.

Each time a Pledge Mark is earned, it will also be awarded to your teammates. You can earn Pledge Marks by:

• Reaching the Event Point (EP) threshold. Gaining 30 EPs for the first time will reward 1 Pledge Mark.
• Looting your first Hunter. Only the first Hunter looted per Mission will give 1 Pledge Mark—any loots after this will only give Event Points.
• Banishing your first Boss Target or Wild Target. Only the first Banish will give 1 Pledge Mark, while banishing a second Target will only give Event Points.
• Becoming the Soul Survivor will give 1 Pledge Mark to the surviving Hunter.

Pact Traits

Pacts are groups that you can pledge Hunters to, giving them special abilities during Missions. Depending on your playstyle, you'll want to study the advantages that each Pact can provide.

You can pledge each of your Hunters to one Pact each, so choose wisely! You'll find Pact Traits in Supply Boxes at Supply Points around the map, which is also where you'll pledge your Hunter to your chosen Pact.

Pledging your Hunter to a Pact and receiving that Pact's exclusive Trait won't cost Pledge Marks (like previous Events). In addition to this, every Pact has two Traits that will be affected by Conditional Trait Effects which will only activate if your Hunter is pledged to the related Pact.

The Wilderness Pact

The Wilderness Pact preserves the integrity of the mountains and punishes those who corrupt it. Their Traits make Hunters more agile and equipped to explore.

• Surefoot (New)—sprint with primed throwables or while using a First Aid Kit
• Beastface (Conditional Trait Effect)—avoid triggering animals or breaking branches
• Frontiersman (Conditional Trait Effect)—gain an extra Pledge Mark for the first 30 Event Points collected per Mission

The Lawful Pact

The Lawful Pact seeks to establish their authority over the new territory. Their Traits are good for players who like to keep stocked up during PvP fights.

• Peacekeeper—restore an empty Health Chunk after looting a dead Hunter
• Packmule (Conditional Trait Effect)—find extra ammo when looting dead Hunters
• Vigilant (Conditional Trait Effect)—double the range of Dark Sight

The Demented Pact

The Demented Pact nurtures the Corruption in its new home, Mammon's Gulch. Their Traits are great for players who like close quarter combat and hunting down Targets.

• Berserker—boost melee damage
• Adrenaline (Conditional Trait Effect)—25% speed boost for 20 seconds when at critical health
• Ghoul (Conditional Trait Effect)—restore health when damaging a Boss Target or Wild Target

Event Points

Event Points can be earned by completing certain activities, hitting the first Dark Tribute milestone, and/or completing Weekly Challenges. The Weekly Challenges have been overhauled according to the feedback we received from the community, so make sure to check them out! They are a great way to earn loads of extra Event Points.

You can earn Event Points by completing the following activities:

• Obtain the Bounty Token from the Sealed Hoard – 100 EPs
• Extract with at least one Bounty Token – 30 EPs
• Become the Soul Survivor – 30 EPs
• Investigate the Master Clue in the Sealed Hoard – 30 EPs
• Looting a Hunter the first time – 12 EPs
• Banishing a Target – 12 EPs
• Kill Hellborn – 12 EPs
• Investigate Event Clues and Rifts – 10 EP s
• Kill Meatheads – 5 EPs
• Kill Immolators – 3 EPs
• Kill Hives – 2 EPs
• Kill Armoreds – 2 EPs

Weekly Challenges

• Complete Regular Challenges – 750 / 1000 EPs
• Complete Premium Challenges – 1500 EPs

Dark Tribute

• Reach the 1st Dark Tribute Milestone – 200 EP

Gunplay Experience

The launch of Hunt: Showdown 1896 brings more improvements to the gunplay experience. First up, toggle between the much-requested centered crosshair and the original lowered position on the screen, so you can aim how you prefer!

Another addition is Bullet Drop—aka the distance at which each bullet will drop depending on your weapon and ammo choice. You can check out the stats for each weapon and ammo on the menu. This change complements the stretching vistas and verticality of the Colorado biome and Mammon's Gulch map, meaning that bullets can't travel forever across the all-new vantage points available.

A weapon's Drop Range is calculated by the weapon's barrel length, action type (e.g. lever-action or bolt-action), ammo, and muzzle velocity of the weapon. All these factors determine how far a bullet's trajectory will be.

We have also implemented that headshots are now always fatal against Hunters and weaker enemies, making those perfect shots feel even more rewarding.

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We can't wait to welcome you into the new era of Hunt: Showdown 1896! Stay tuned to our official channels for more updates and details about the future of the game.

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