Update, January 18 2018: The closed alpha for Hunt: Showdown begins January 31.
In case you’ve missed it, Crytek’s Hunt: Showdown is a take on the weird west that has you play a bounty hunter in competitive multiplayer matches that have a big focus on PvE. Crytek said there would be a series of closed alpha tests this winter, and now we’ve got a specific date for one of them: January 31.
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The closed alpha will see the developers testing gameplay and backend functionality, while adjusting balance and taking community feedback. You can still sign up via the official site-the invites will be sent out in waves prior to the start date. New weapons, equipment, traits, and ranks will be added over the course of testing.
We first heard rumblings about Hunt way back in 2014, but it was not unveiled in its current form until E3 2017. It will have you tracking down monsters in southern swamps, collecting bounties before other players can do the same – or taking out your rivals and claiming their prize for yourself.
Original story, November 10 2017:We’ll be able to sample Weird West bounty hunting game Hunt: Showdown during “multiple closed alpha testing phases this winter,” say developers Crytek.
“After initial tests with a very limited amount of players we are planning to invite more and more testers with each phase,” says producer Fatih Özbayram. “This is the first step in building a close relationship with our community and integrating their feedback into our development process, something we plan on continuing – and intensifying – during Early Access.”
You can sign up for the closed alpha, and learn more about the game, on Hunt: Showdown’s website. If you need a reason to do so, here’s a quick catch-up: Hunt: Showdown is a bounty hunting sim in which several teams of bounty hunters enter a creepily beautiful Weird West setting in pursuit of a marked monster. You’ll have to face the other hunters as well as PvE mobs. Should you take down the big prize, it’s not over: you need to escape from the map safely to ‘bank’ your win, only now you have to do so with the other hunters chasing after you.
It sounds tense and I personally love the setting, so I’m looking forward to hearing more. We’ll let you know as soon as the alpha tests have launch dates. In the meantime, here’s Hunt’s early access page.