Crytek's 'Hunt: Showdown' Is Coming To Steam Early Access (Updated)

Update, 11/9/2017, 8:25am PST: Crytek announced that the first round of closed alpha testing for the game is coming this winter. There will be "multiple closed alpha testing phases" throughout the season. You can sign up for the alpha version on the game's website.

Original story, 10/13/2017, 10:30am PDT:

Crytek is back with a new game. Hunt: Showdown mixes player-versus-player gameplay with the intensity of hunting targets in a player-versus-environment. It’s still in the development process, but the studio announced that it’s coming to Steam as an Early Access title.

In Hunt: Showdown, you are a bounty hunter sent to the Louisiana swampland to take out terrifying monsters. You can take on these missions by yourself or with a partner. However, there are other players on the same map who are hunting their own targets. Crytek said each match can have up to five teams of two players. The first team to take down their target will get a bounty, but that means they become a target for other players. If you manage to escape with the bounty, you’ll get money and experience to buy new weapons and armor for your characters. If you die in combat, you’ll lose all of the gear on your person, but you’ll still gain experience to use for another Hunter in your “Bloodline,” which is a pool of characters available for you to use.

In an FAQ post on Steam, Crytek wrote that the game will stay in Early Access for at least 12 months. During that time, the studio wants Hunt: Showdown’s development to be based on  “community feedback as we test and refine new features, equipment, cast, and settings.” Depending on players’ thoughts on current and future changes to gameplay, development shorter or longer than the 12-month plan. When the Early Access version does come out, you’ll have more than 40 weapons, tools, and items to use. The one-square kilometer map will include “hoards of gruesome monsters for you to fight on your way to even more savage bosses.”

Crytek didn’t provide a release date for the game’s Early Access debut, but it did say that those who get the preview version will pay a cheaper price than those who buy the finished product. Full hardware specs weren’t available, but the studio did state on the Steam page that you will need the 64-bit version of Windows 10 to run the game.