Way of the Hunter 2 expands its world today with the arrival of the Kilimaya Reserve. Kilimaya is a 100 km² (40 square miles) reserve built on contrast, featuring highlands, forests, open grasslands, wetlands, shrublands, and sun-scorched barren terrain - all packed into a single diverse environment.
Players can also discover ancient stone ruins, remote village settlements, lookout towers, and hidden cave paintings, all set within a landscape shaped by the full range of African wilderness. Early Access Update 2 delivers a completely new hunting experience, introducing twelve new animal species, additional gear, and a cast of new characters, each with their own stories to tell.
Watch the trailer here:
Twelve new species are roaming the lands of Kilimaya:
Greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros strepsiceros)
Blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus taurinus)
Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)
Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
Blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi)
Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra)
Common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius amphibius)
Cape honey badger (Mellivora capensis capensis)
Southern lion (Panthera leo melanochaita)
South African ostrich (Struthio camelus australis)
Cape African buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer)
Southern yellow-billed duck (Anas undulata undulata)
A New Layer of Authenticity
Update 2 also introduces anatomically accurate animal models. Male and female animals now reflect true biological differences in their appearance, adding a new layer of authenticity to the simulation that all hunters will appreciate.
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.
Way of the Hunter 2 is fully playable in Early Access, offering a solid core experience, but it remains a work in progress by design. By opening development early, the team ensures that your feedback can meaningfully influence systems, mechanics, and future content while we are still flexible and evolving.
(Way of the Hunter 2) Update 0.2.0 (Version: 195528) - patch notes:
New Map
Added: Kilimaya Reserve - 100 km2 (40 square miles) hunting ground
Animals:
Added: Greater kudu
Added: Blue wildebeest
Added: Nile crocodile (currently referred to as Ethiopian crocodile in the in-game encyclopedia; this will be corrected in a future update)
Added: Spotted hyena
Added: Blesbok
Added: Cape mountain zebra
Added: Common hippopotamus
Added: Cape honey badger
Added: Southern lion
Added: South African ostrich
Added: Cape African buffalo
Added: Southern yellow-billed duck
Added: Anatomically accurate animal models - male and female animals now reflect true biological differences in appearance
Added: Antler colour variations (available across all maps)
Added: Charging mechanics - Southern lion, Common hippopotamus, and Cape African buffalo can now charge the player. This is the first version of the system, which will be improved and expanded to additional animals over time.
Fixed: Fur rendering distortion when standing close to animals
Fixed: The drinking zone of multiple animals placed too far from the water source
Fixed: Big game animals now align correctly with the terrain
Fixed: Mule deer no longer falls through the ground after dying
Fixed: Dall sheep males had a higher trophy score than intended
Tweaked: Grizzly bear destroyed skull no longer reduces the female's trophy score
Fixed: (Dog) The 'Track blood' command now correctly cancels the 'Sit and Stay' command when the player is more than 100 metres away from the dog
Tweaked: Increased initial fitness for all animal species for better trophy distribution, reducing the chance of most animals spawning with a 1-star trophy rating. Note: this change applies to new saves only - existing saves will not be affected. Further improvements to trophy distribution are planned for a future update.
Gear
Added: Terra Fractal TR compound bow
Added: Primacy Impact Mechanical Blade Long Vanes 30" arrow
Added: WildHeart Yellow-Billed Duck Decoy
Fixed: Compatible weapons on suppressors are now listed correctly in the Encyclopedia
Fixed: Supported attachments on weapons are now listed correctly in the Encyclopedia
Fixed: Player could lose access to their entire inventory, e.g. when fast-travelling from inside a flipped vehicle
Missions & Characters
Added: New Hearth & Hunt characters on Kilimaya Reserve, each with their own missions and stories
Sound & Audio
Fixed: Suppressed shots impacting flesh at distances between 30 and 100 metres no longer cause SFX distortion
Fixed: American wolverine missing footstep sounds
Fixed: Dall sheep missing footstep sounds
Fixed: White-tailed ptarmigan had silent sound cues
Fixed: Wood bison missing footstep, snorting, and eating sounds
Fixed: Bow reload sound was playing twice
New Laurentia:
Fixed: Improper water texture in Mishipeshu Swamp
Fixed: Rock asset displayed improperly near the crater in Mishipeshu Swamp
Fixed: Small rocks floating near a cave in Wetiko Foothills
Fixed: Water mesh glitches throughout New Laurentia
Fixed: Floating texture layer at a hunting stand in Thunderbird Muskeg
Fixed: Water splitting unnaturally near the lake in Kermode Plateau
Fixed: Small lake near Mishipeshu Swamp was not displayed on the Hunting Map
Fixed: Missing water in the swamps of Lake Sasquatch
Fixed: Deformed water surface in several areas of New Laurentia
Fixed: Player can now climb down all hunting stands correctly
Fixed: Foliage was not rendering in the distance in the main menu
Fixed: Placeholder texture was present during the third chapter of the tutorial
Fixed: Main menu music no longer plays during the initial cutscene of the game
Fixed: Game could crash when loading into the main menu or the New Laurentia map
UI/UX:
Tweaked: Additional options added to the "View Distance Quality" graphical setting
Tweaked: Improved the “Challenges” screen
Fixed: Placeholder text in the Encyclopedia Attachments section
Fixed: Ability to open the radial menu in ADS while using the shooting stick
Fixed: Automatic Running/Sneaking setting had no functionality
Fixed: Bullet camera - eye, tongue and tooth materials no longer visible while the animal body is transparent
Fixed: Frame generation setting was not functioning correctly
Known Issues (Update 0.2.0):
Please use Ctrl+F before reporting something to check if it is already listed here. We are actively working on these bugs:
Players with NPU devices may experience a crash on launch if AI boost is enabled in Device Manager - disabling it should fix this, meanwhile we’re working on a fix
Players with Intel 13th or 14th gen i7/i9 CPUs combined with an RTX 4090 may experience a crash to desktop when loading into Kilimaya Reserve due to CPU voltage instability. A workaround is to slightly downclock the CPU turbo ratios using ThrottleStop or a similar tool
Opening the Hunting Map during a screen transition - such as losing consciousness, climbing a ladder, or completing an infrastructure improvement, may cause a black screen softlock
Animal territories in Kilimaya may be set incorrectly in some cases
Water surfaces in some parts of Kilimaya have incorrect collision boundaries
Kilimaya's animals in photo mode may stop moving once the scene is set up
Incorrect marker on Damian (NPC) after completing his storyline in Kilimaya Reserve
Custom markers appear floating in the air on the Kilimaya Reserve
Female Blue wildebeest have no collision with vehicles
A Southern lion in a story mission has no ragdoll physics on death
Animal fitness currently does not affect animal weight
Common hippopotamus group does not get spooked after charging
Performance may drop in areas with large bodies of water
Ostriches have an incorrect organ layout on the harvest screen
Male ostriches currently may not take damage when shot sometimes
Turkeys shot non-lethally during the tutorial may get stuck on the ground with broken behavior
Stalker skill speed bonuses may persist after resetting or unequipping the skill
Vehicle interaction prompts may reappear after exiting to the main menu and loading back while in a vehicle
The Greater Kudu drinking need zone displays an incorrect end time in the UI - the drinking window runs until 01:00, but the UI shows 00:00
Thank you for your continued support, and happy hunting on Kilimaya!
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