Crytek has confirmed that Hunt: Showdown will finally make its debut on current gen home consoles, including PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. This comes as part of a major update for the popular extraction shooter that will see a technical overhaul as well as a “mountain” of new content rolled out during the summer.
This will include a brand new Hunt: Showdown map, an updated user experience, and an upgrade to CRYENGINE 5.11. Besides giving PC players a nice little boost, this will also beef up the visuals and performance for the newly-announced PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions albeit with a slight caveat. When the upgrade lands on August 15th, 2024, Crytek will effectively end support for Hunt: Showdown on PS4 and Xbox One. Those who play on these systems will be entitled to a free upgrade with their progress and DLC carrying over.
These changes mark a new era for Hunt: Showdown and one that will hopefully attract a new wave of fans as well as lapsed veterans. Shutting down those last gen versions is bound to impact a minority yet, as someone who plays on PS4, I’ve often felt as though Sony’s old hardware has been holding me back, especially when matched with PC gamers via online cross-play.
Hunt: Showdown is easily one of the best extraction shooters out there, mainly thanks to being one of the genre’s first pioneers. After entering early access in 2018, it quickly garnered a loyal fanbase who fell in love with its dark atmosphere and tense PvP, competing with other bounty hunters to track and kill a dark menagerie of monsters before making off with their loot.
Back when the game launched on PS4 and Xbox One, we scored it an 8/10 in our Hunt: Showdown review saying:
“I’ll admit I wasn’t keen on Hunt: Showdown to start with, but after the first few matches I realised there’s something special here. This is an unusual entry in a genre ruled by far snappier shooters, and it takes time to get your head around Crytek’s clever twist on the formula. Stick with it and you’ll be rewarded with a uniquely engrossing multiplayer experience.”
What else is Crytek currently working on? After recently remastering its trilogy of Crysis games, the studio has confirmed that Crysis 4 is officially in the works. We’ll hopefully hear more about that project soon.
Source: Press Release
