Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been focusing heavily on fixing existing issues, polishing systems, and tweaking the gameplay based on your feedback. And once again, you’ve been incredibly helpful. Your reports, suggestions, and feedback have helped us move the game to a much better place as we approach the 1.0 launch.
There’s also some big news outside of the update itself.
Way of the Hunter 2 has a release date!
We can finally share the date when Way of the Hunter 2 will officially launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S: September 29, 2026. Recently we've also released an updated road map, with insights on the upcoming updates, you can check the new road map for 1.0 and beyond here.
Pre-orders are now available as well, and there are multiple bonuses waiting for those who decide to get the game ahead of release. We’ll be taking a much closer look at everything included in the pre-order bonuses in an upcoming post, so keep an eye out for that.
But for now, let’s take a look at what Update 0.4.0 brings to the game.
Check out the new trailer here: [WIP trailer link]
A Brand-New Map
Update 0.4.0 introduces a completely new location for you to explore. This map is smaller than our full-sized hunting reserves, at roughly 16 km² / 6 square mi, but don't let its size fool you. It’s a new environment, inspired by the North American wildlife, already familiar from the game - the Wild Duck, Rocky Mountain Elk, Mule Deer, Snowshoe Hare, and Ptarmigan. New hunting opportunities, and places to discover also awaits here. Whether you want to explore every corner or simply enjoy a different hunting experience, there’s plenty waiting for you.
And this new location is also home to something much bigger…
Welcome to Hearth & Hunt Headquarters
Your new headquarters is a huge, fully upgradable lodge where you can bring together the trophies and accolades you’ve collected throughout your hunting adventures. As you progress, you’ll be able to gradually upgrade the lodge and shape it into a place that reflects your journey. Display your greatest trophies, showcase your achievements, and build a headquarters worthy of everything you’ve accomplished across the world of Way of the Hunter 2.
It’s your space, your collection, and your hunting legacy.
You'll also meet Elijah, a new NPC who's settled into the Headquarters. He'll walk you through what the place has to offer, from lodge upgrades to trophy displays to the shooting range, and he's always happy to talk about the other reserves and the animals waiting there too, so keep an ear out if you're curious about what's beyond the Headquarters.
A shooting range is also part of the Headquarters, we'll be expanding what you can do there in future updates, including trying out weapons you don't yet own. It's your space, your collection, and your hunting legacy.
New Shotguns & Shotgun Choke
We haven’t forgotten about the small game hunters! Update 0.4.0 adds two brand-new shotguns to your arsenal, including a very welcome addition from our friends at Merkel.
But new shotguns aren’t the only thing coming to the game. We’re also introducing shotgun choke.
Choke allows you to adjust how tightly the pellets from a shotgun shell are grouped as they leave the barrel. A tighter choke keeps the pellets concentrated over a longer distance, making it more suitable for longer shots, while a more open choke spreads the pellets out more quickly, which can be useful at shorter ranges. Alongside this, we've added a new pellet spread display to the Claim screen for shotgun kills, and a new dedicated organ for birds, air sacs, since these are such a defining part of the anatomy.
Animals, Sound, and Ballistics
Based directly on your feedback, we've made several changes to how animals look, sound, and behave:
Crocodiles have been resized to better match their real-world scale, one of the most requested fixes from the community.
Duck AI has been improved, including flying and landing behavior, along with calling and decoying mechanics.
Vitals and skin materials have been updated for carnivores and several other species.
The sound of charging animals (Hippopotamus, Cape Buffalo, Southern Lion) has been improved, another change shaped by your feedback.
We've also rebalanced lethal damage, so high-energy calibers can now more reliably bring down animals.
Herd Management Improvements
Herd group sizes now grow or shrink over time based on how healthy the population is, healthier populations will support larger groups, while struggling ones will shrink. This ties directly into herd management and should make your work managing a reserve feel more meaningful over time.
More Control Over Your Hunting Experience
Update 0.4.0 also includes a number of highly requested quality-of-life improvements. One of them is the addition of separate audio sliders for animals and your dog. You can now fine-tune their volume independently and create the audio mix that works best for you.
We’re also expanding our in-game voice-over support to additional languages, meaning more players can now experience the game with voice acting they can understand. We've added localized voice overs in Chinese, French, German, Portuguese (Brasil) and Spanish (Latin-American).
We also went after some of the most persistent, annoying bugs many of you have run into: issues using gear while prone, timed jumps (bunny-hopping) no longer granting unintended extra speed, several taxidermy display issues, and a long list of UI improvements.
And, as always, this is just scratching the surface. This update contains over a hundred fixes, adjustments, and gameplay tweaks across the game. You can find the full details in the patch notes below.
Multiplayer Keeps Moving Forward
Multiplayer on the Experimental Branch has received another substantial update as well. We fixed multiple synchronization issues affecting both host and client, animals, and vehicles, resolved several issues related to user markers, including their color coding and management, fixed trophies not being visible to clients, and made a number of other important improvements for stability and a more immersive multiplayer experience.
The result is a more solid multiplayer experience, and we're becoming increasingly confident that it will be ready to move to the default branch very soon, while we continue to work on it. In the meantime, if you want to jump in and test multiplayer with your friends, head over to the Experimental Branch and give it a try. Your feedback there is especially valuable as we continue preparing multiplayer for a wider release.
Update 0.4.0 is another major step toward the full release:
With the game now set to launch on September 29, 2026, our focus is on continuing to polish the experience, improve the core gameplay, and make sure the game is in the best possible shape when 1.0 arrives.
Thank you for sticking with us, reporting issues, sharing feedback, and helping us shape the game.
We’ll see you at the Hearth & Hunt Headquarters.
(Way of the Hunter 2) Update 0.4.0 (Version: 206314)- patch notes:
ANIMALS:
Tweaked: Increased the size of crocodiles to match their real-world scale better
Tweaked: Improved duck AI, including flying and landing glitches and calling and decoying mechanics
Tweaked: Updated vitals and skin materials for carnivores and other animal species
Tweaked: Updated skeleton, skull, and vitals for Grey Wolf, Spotted Hyena, Mountain Zebra, Hippopotamus, Southern Lion, Wild Boar, and Grizzly Bear
Fixed: Southern Lion triggering a swimming animation in shallow water
Fixed: Improper swimming animations for several animals (Mountain Zebra, Spotted Hyena, Ostrich, Cape Buffalo)
Fixed: Harvested animal briefly disappearing after exiting to the main menu and reloading the map
Fixed: Animals shaking slightly for a few seconds after being harvested
Fixed: Artery incorrectly displayed in the organ list on the Claim screen for birds
Fixed: Central European Boar's upper tusks now shorter than the lower tusks, to better reflect reality
Fixed: Hippo sliding across the ground after being harvested
Fixed: South African Ostrich walking instead of lying down while damaged
Fixed: South African Ostrich not detecting the player correctly
Fixed: Glitching material on Wood Bison's rear legs
Fixed: Improper display for Nile Crocodile on the Harvest screen
Fixed: Improper droppings size for Hippopotamus in Kilimaya Reserve
Fixed: Improperly displayed eyes (incorrect reflection) for several animal species
Fixed: Ostrich not spooking and fleeing while in water
Fixed: Wild Duck's max age incorrectly set to 4 instead of 10
Fixed: Greater Kudu horn orientation tips incorrectly point rearward
Fixed: Trophy appearing visible before the harvested animal has fully loaded back in, when exiting to the main menu and reloading right after a kill
Fixed: Common Hippopotamus tusks clip into the model on older/larger animals
Fixed: Animals clipping through terrain on steep angles
Fixed: Hippo models appearing corrupted while in the "lying damaged" state
Fixed: Wild Boar tusks appearing too large on adult and mature 1-star animals
Fixed: Animals stopping at a fixed distance instead of closing the distance when called correctly
Fixed: Half-Blind Lion in the "Final Roar" mission not collapsing/reacting properly upon death
Fixed: Hares receiving 100% flesh damage when shot from less than 70 meters
Fixed: Blood tracks incorrectly showing "animal survived" for turkeys and snowshoe hares hit in the head, tail, or limbs, even when they died shortly after
Fixed: Dog's tail appearing corrupted during the digging animation
GEAR:
Added: Primacy Long Range Choke shotgun attachment
Added: Primacy Hunter pump-action shotgun (12 ga)
Added: Merkel SxS Shotgun 45E (20 ga)
Tweaked: Rebalanced lethal damage so high-energy calibers can now more reliably kill animals even without hitting a vital organ
Tweaked: A message will now pop up when trying to pack up a placeable item when your inventory is full
Fixed: Player's left hand glitching into the bow string when crouched
Fixed: Improper collisions on the blind (Wildheart Front Cover) when placed on slightly curved surfaces
Fixed: Christensen Arms Evoke showing incorrect accuracy, recoil, and noise values in the Encyclopedia
Fixed: Bows not calculating external ballistics correctly at very short distances
Fixed: Animation issues with crossbows when moving while prone
Fixed: Gear not working correctly if switched right before entering Photomode
Fixed: Overgaard 8x flickering when in prone
Fixed: Terra Observer Mono not working correctly when in prone
Fixed: Animation issues when entering the tripod stand crouched or in prone
Fixed: Being unable to use the shooting stick when carrying multiple
Fixed: Arrowheads not being visible when viewed through Photomode mid-flight
Fixed: Not being able to interact with various items after fast travelling from a tripod stand
Fixed: Ammo Lewellings Dark Storm wrong recoil and number of projectiles values in the Encyclopedia
Fixed: Ammo Lewellings Elevated Resolve had incorrect tier in the Encyclopedia
Fixed: Suppressor Primacy Panther noise reduction corrected
Fixed: Blind WildHeart Front Cover has now correctly reduces visibility, noise and scent
Fixed: Mission ‘Competition Espionage’ not being completed when the hunting blind was packed before harvesting the animal
CHARACTER:
Fixed: Player's hands floating above the ground during the prone animation on uneven terrain
Fixed: Timed jumps (bunny-hopping) no longer grant unintended extra movement speed
ENVIRONMENT:
Added: Hearth & Hunt Headquarters - a small map region featuring your expandable Master Lodge, where you can showcase your greatest trophies collected from every reserve, and more
Added: New NPC (Elijah) to the Hearth & Hunt Headquarters
Tweaked: Herd group sizes now grow or shrink over time based on how healthy the population is, healthier populations mean more animals in the group
Tweaked: Improved grass bending for animals in Photomode
Tweaked: Corrected sun position at noon (now displays to the north) and shortened nighttime duration in Kilimaya Reserve
Fixed: Animal signs sometimes failing to generate properly on certain terrain
Fixed: Player can get stuck in between rocks in the river at a specific location
Fixed: Misleading water SFX in Tutorial
Fixed: Mismatch between water level and terrain at the lake south of Wetiko Foothills in New Laurentia
Fixed: Moon now rises in the correct direction
Fixed: Terrain and foliage disappearing when viewed at certain angles in Kilimaya Reserve
Fixed: Taxidermies appearing to float above the wall stand in Kilimaya Reserve
Fixed: Textures flickering/glitching at a specific location, most noticeable when viewing through binoculars
Fixed: A rare error message appearing when using the hunting dog near the Lone Dall Sheep location during the "Parasomnias" mission
Fixed: "Effects Quality" graphics setting incorrectly affecting the Global Illumination (Lumen) setting
Fixed: A tree incorrectly placed on the asphalt road in Kermode Plateau in New Laurentia
Fixed: A location-specific color grading glitch causing visuals to appear teal/desaturated, similar to being underwater
Fixed: Player getting stuck between rocks in a river at a specific location in New Laurentia
Fixed: Player getting stuck near the lodge in New Laurentia
Fixed: Water looking visually broken in certain spots throughout New Laurentia
Fixed: Player able to crawl under the terrain at several locations in New Laurentia
Fixed: Missing collision on Cape Honey Badger resting spot burrows in Kilimaya Reserve
Fixed: Corrupted visual for big game resting signs in Kilimaya Reserve
Fixed: Some blood trail decals/blood types appearing visually broken
SFX:
Added: VO localization – added localized voice overs in Chinese, French, German, Portuguese (Brasil) and Spanish (Latin-American)
Tweaked: Improved sounds for walking through bushes
Tweaked: Improved sound for animals charging (Hippopotamus, Cape Buffalo, Southern Lion)
Fixed: Christensen Arms Evoke's gunshot sound being too quiet
Fixed: Skip prompt remaining on screen after the voiceover has ended
UI/UX:
Added: Volume slider for the Dog in Audio Settings
Added: Volume slider for Animals in Audio Settings
Added: Pellet spread graph was added to Claim screen when shotgun was used
Tweaked: Added air sacs as a separate organ in the Claim screen
Tweaked: ‘Hold’ actions were added to certain actions to avoid unintentional purchases or sales
Tweaked: Sub-titles were added to all items in Shop for better readability
Tweaked: Removed the ability to select some UI items with the directional pad or arrow keys for better navigation with a controller
Tweaked: Improved legibility of text in Japanese localization
Tweaked: Changed default sensitivity values and deadzones for analog sticks to improve aiming controls (Controller)
Tweaked: Enabled vibration and Vibration intensity setting (Controller)
Fixed: Hunter Assist toggle not being responsive enough (Controller)
Fixed: Compatible attachments sometimes not being listed in the Encyclopedia
Fixed: Input prompt text not displaying correctly in the tutorial when using Italian or Spanish (Latin America) subtitle settings
Fixed: Rain sound not affected by the "Effects" volume slider
Fixed: Cape Honey Badgers using the same walk/run sounds as Mule Deer in Kilimaya Reserve
Fixed: Resetting all keybinds not resetting some of them
Fixed: Dog’s current action displaying ‘Text Block’ in some situations
Fixed: Bullet camera flickering on Nvidia GPUs
Fixed: Bullet camera showing a glowing aura around the animal when brightness is set between 75-100
Fixed: Dialogue line during mission “Final Roar” was corrected to Naomi as a speaker in Kilimaya Reserve
Fixed: Italian Localization during mission “Teacher’s pet” now contains also name of the bow
Fixed: French Localization missing translation in objective for mission “PackDynamics”
Fixed: Missing Subtitle when failing to shoot the Moose through its vitals in the tutorial
Fixed: Incorrect Polish localization – wrong and unnatural translations in UI and weather
Fixed: Untranslated list of organs in the Claim screen
Fixed: Bullet camera not showing correct ballistic data for the Tutorial turkey
Fixed: Fix the visual glitch of black screen in the scopes after shooting
Fixed: Southern Lion trophy has incorrect trophy rating
Fixed: American wolverine has wrong organs displayed in the Claim screen
TAXIDERMIES:
Fixed: Multiple clipping and positioning issues across various taxidermy dioramas
Fixed: Animals displaying incorrectly on medium and big shoulder taxidermy stands when placed next to each other in Kilimaya Reserve
Fixed: Taxidermy dioramas occasionally displaying the wrong animal
PERFORMANCE:
Fixed: Game stuttering when shooting an animal with a shotgun
Fixed: Freezing when opening the Hunting map during certain actions
Experimental Branch (0.4.0.206431):
Fixed: (MP) Multiple synchronization issues with player characters, animals, and vehicles
Fixed: (MP) Multiple issues related to user markers, including their color coding and management
Fixed: (MP) Trophies not being visible for client
Fixed: (MP) Aim assist circle not changing its color correctly for client
Fixed: (MP) Animal population being shared between single player, and multiplayer sessions
Fixed: (MP) “Player joined” notification being displayed without the player’s name
Fixed: (MP) Client being unable to equip a new scope
Fixed: (MP) Player IDs not being displayed on the Hunting map over longer distances
Fixed: (MP) Client drowning causing host to lose consciousness
Fixed: (MP) Sessions not being listed in the server browser until pressing ‘Refresh’
Fixed: (MP) Multiple crashes & various improvements to session stability, connecting, and friend invites
If you run into bugs, please report them via THQN Redmine - ideally with your saved files attached - details on how to report a bug and attach your saved files can be found HERE.
We’ll see you at the Hearth & Hunt Headquarters, happy hunting!
Play Way of the Hunter 2 in Early Access on Steam (PC). Pre-order on PlayStation Store. Pre-order on Microsoft Store.
Pre-Order links for consoles:
PlayStation: https://thqn.net/4wFGDzk
Xbox Standard Edition Pre-Order: https://thqn.net/4fGmqn2
Xbox Deluxe Edition Pre-Order: https://thqn.net/3RzUCro
More info:
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