New Hunt: Showdown Roadmap for the Rest of 2023 and 2024 Detailed

As Crytek gears up for their next big event for Hunt: Showdown in October, a new roadmap video was released to give players a good idea of what to expect from the game for the rest of 2023 and 2024.

General Manager David Fifield breaks down all the new features, improvements, and content coming to the game in the near future in a single concise video.

This roadmap breaks down from Crytek doesn’t promise when exactly these features will be implemented, only that it is indeed in the works.

There are a lot of quality-of-life improvements mentioned in the upcoming roadmap and the usual expectations such as new weapons and cosmetics. Another feature worth mentioning is that they are working on a fourth map with a unique biome

Here’s a rundown of what was announced.

Events

Tide of Shadows, the event that brings heavy rains and the game’s first wild boss, is just the first of a planned trilogy event as the second and third event is expected to hit during the Winter of 2023.

In October, they are bringing back the Inferno condition to the game’s maps for their upcoming event called Tide of Corruption starting on October 4, which comes with its own set of pacts for players to pledge and earn unique traits for their Hunters.

They also mention that they are currently working on an entirely new condition, but they plan to reveal what that is when it’s closer to launch.

Twitch Drops - celebrating Halloween

They also announced that a new Twitch Drops campaign will happen in October to further celebrate the upcoming Halloween. This new campaign will contain a new Hunter, weapon skins, charms, weapon crates, and event points (for ongoing events) for simply watching select Twitch streamers partnered with Crytek.

Game Updates

Game Progression Improvements

Crytek is planning to increase every player’s total Hunter slots from 50 to 75. They are also planning to rework the game’s prestige system in 2023 by unlocking more weapon base groups in order to make the process of leveling up a bit easier by giving veteran players more options to work with in the early levels.

For 2024, they plan to give rewards to players who have reached Prestige 100, giving them more milestones to aim for.

Challenge pools and trait reworks are also being accessed and worked on and will be implemented from the rest of 2023 to the rest of 2024. They also mentioned that they are considering merging traits with similar effects and also looking at tweaking traits that new players start with in the early parts of the progression.

Weapon inspection is coming!

The highly requested feature of simply inspecting the gun your Hunter is currently holding will be rolling out in stages, starting with an upcoming patch that allows you to inspect pistols, melee weapons, and select tools. More weapon groups and items will receive the same inspection feature in the near future.

Controller and Console Updates

Console players will be getting some love as the Winter update will include adjustments to the controller dead zone and more aim assist and acceleration options. In early 2024, you can expect the ability to customize your button layout on your controller as well as a rework on the weapon wheel.

Backend Networking Improvements

Crytek will also be moving towards a decentralized backend for the game’s services in 2024. This change will allow the team to implement updates to the game with no downtime needed and hopefully prevent regional outages from affecting other servers. The change is said to improve the game’s response to inventory and Bloodline interactions for all players. This improvement will hopefully lessen players from experiencing rubberbanding during a match or other desynced issues in-game.

Matchmaking will also worked on, specifically its MMR system, and they are working on giving duo teams the ability to match with a random player to be their third. They are also looking to change team voice chat functions to allow players to communicate without exposing their location to the enemy.

With this change, they will also make it so that players can still communicate with their team in-game.

Cheating is also something they are hoping to improve as they revealed that they recently made new hires to work on that part of the game specifically, though they didn’t go into detail on how they will be bolstering the game to prevent cheaters from running rampant.

CryEngine Upgrade is happening in early 2024

The graphical upgrade for Hunt: Showdown overall is still underway and is expected to hit in early 2024. The fourth map of the game that will be introduced next year will be the developer’s way of showcasing the visual upgrade they plan to implement throughout the whole game, meaning the new map and the CryEngine upgrade will launch at the same time.

The launch of the CryEngine upgrade will happen simultaneously on PC and console versions of Hunt. This upgrade will also be aligned with the official launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game.

Thanks to this upgrade, Crytek will be increasing the minimum specifications required to run the game on PC:

• CPU: Intel CPU 7th Gen 7700 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600

• GPU (Minimum of 4GB of VRAM): Nvidia GTX 1650 Super / AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT

• Resolution: 1080p

The first stage of this CryEngine upgrade will also include DirectX 12, FSR 2.1.2, Direct Storage, and HDR support. The next wave of visual improvements of the game is expected to hit during the second half of 2024.

A complete UI overhaul for both PC and console versions of the game is also planned and is part of the CryEngine upgrade to hopefully improve overall player navigation and readability.

Previous Gen console support ends next year

The upgrade also means the end of PS4 and Xbox support for Hunt: Showdown, but it will only end in April 2024, giving players still in the previous generation of consoles ample time to consider upgrading. Those who own Hunt: Showdown on PS4 or Xbox One will be given a free upgrade to the current consoles and all progression and rewards found on your previous system will carry over.

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