Hunt: Showdown has become a darling in the burgeoning extraction shooter genre and Crytek is looking to continue that with an impending upgrade to the game‘s engine. Unlike some other games’ approach to their engine overhauls, Hunt: Showdown is choosing to prioritize its player base.

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, David Fifield, the general manager for Hunt: Showdown, spoke about their plans to upgrade the game’s engine as well as how Crytek is going to go about doing that. “Declaring something to be a full sequel to a service game does create a lot of buzz certainly, but can also carry a backlash when it involves rebuilding the player base, migrating to an entirely new installation of another title ID, or a significant branch of core mechanics or progression resets. If it also carries a new price tag or could be described as a routine update instead of a whole new product, that also creates more friction and controversy.”

This statement was almost definitely made with the releases of both Overwatch 2 and Counter-Strike 2 in mind. The first year of Overwatch 2 has been far from smooth for Blizzard, fans responded especially negatively to the cancellation of the game’s highly anticipated co-op mode. For Counter-Strike 2 on the other hand, many fans have expressed their frustration with the complete overwriting of CS:GO as well as how different the game feels compared to its predecessor.

Considering those cases, Fifield expressed Crytek’s desire to continue Hunt: Showdown as it is without a splashy rebranding or release. “Watching how those transitions have gone with other service games, we decided on continuing Hunt: Showdown and to not set expectations of replacing it. If you want to think of it as Hunt 2 you’re welcome to but I’m not going to charge you, I’m not going to take away anything you’ve bought, I’m not going to decrease your value or your investment because I want you to keep playing.”

Keep your eyes peeled as we will continue to cover Hunt: Showdown’s Engine Update slated for 2024 and for more news and updates on all things gaming, stick with ClutchPoints Gaming.