Since the launch of Early Access, we've introduced a brand-new reserve, new animal species, additional gear, and countless fixes, optimizations, and gameplay improvements. It's been an incredible journey watching all of you explore the world of Way of the Hunter 2 while helping us shape the game through your feedback.
Finding the right balance between adding new content and improving existing systems is always a challenge. However, as we move closer to the 1.0 release, we're confident that we're heading in the right direction.
Right now, the majority of our team is focused on addressing community feedback, fixing bugs, and polishing the overall experience. At the same time, some team members have already shifted their attention toward console versions, which are being prepped for certification testing before submission to platform stores.
That said, there is still plenty of exciting content planned before launch.
One area that will receive a lot of attention in the coming months is multiplayer. We want to build it properly from the ground up, and your feedback will play a huge role in helping us get there. Today, we're excited to share our updated roadmap for the summer journey towards Version 1.0.
Update #3
New Animals and Improvements
Update #3 expands the wildlife roster across our reserves. New Laurentia and Kilimaya Reserve will receive additional animal species, allowing hunters to pursue:
Wild Boar
Warthog
Pronghorn
These additions will also come with new missions. Alongside the new content, the update includes a large number of bug fixes, performance improvements, balancing changes, and quality-of-life enhancements. Be sure to check the full patch notes when the update becomes available.
Multiplayer
While multiplayer in the original game provided many memorable moments, we know there is still significant room for improvement. That's why we're taking a gradual approach in Way of the Hunter 2, introducing systems step by step, testing them with the community, and refining them based on your feedback.
Our goal is clear: have a polished and feature-rich multiplayer experience ready for the full release.
With Update #3, we're introducing simple multiplayer mode.
Players will be able to create parties of 2 players and explore reserves together. This initial version is intentionally simple and focuses on establishing a stable foundation that we can continue building throughout Early Access.
Because we're taking a gradual approach, your feedback during this stage will be incredibly valuable. The earlier we identify issues and opportunities for improvement, the stronger the final multiplayer experience will become.
The initial multiplayer mode will not feature persistent map progression. Each session will be standalone and map progress will not carry over between sessions.
Persistent worlds, where you and your friends can manage reserves together, are planned for future early access updates. We also intend to introduce custom multiplayer missions, additional gameplay modes, and more advanced multiplayer features as development continues even after the 1.0 release.
Non-Typical Trophies
One of the most requested and beloved trophy features is finally making its way into the game.
Because Way of the Hunter 2 uses a DNA-based trophy generation system, we can extend this technology beyond traditional trophy variations and into truly unusual and rare specimens.
With Update #3, you'll be able to discover unique non-typical trophies and display them in your lodge.
We’re starting with mule deer as the first species to receive non-typical trophies. This initial implementation introduces the foundation of the system, and we’ll continue refining mule deer trophy variations and expanding their diversity based on feedback. As the feature evolves, we’ll also bring non-typical trophies to additional animal species in future updates.
What’s next for the Early Access?
Hub Lodge and Hub Map
During the Early Access period we will introduce one of the biggest additions planned before launch: the Hub Lodge.
This lodge will serve as your personal hunting headquarters, allowing you to collect and display trophies from every reserve in the game.
The Hub Lodge will be located within a new North American map designed specifically around this experience. While smaller than our traditional hunting reserves, the area will feature a brand new region and an area full of wildlife for you to explore.
Shotgun Chokes
We haven't forgotten about shotgun hunters.
Later updates will introduce shotgun chokes, giving players greater control over shot patterns and hunting strategies.
A shotgun choke attachment is a narrowing at the end of the barrel that controls how tightly or widely the pellets spread after firing. In gameplay, tighter chokes improve long-range accuracy with dense pellet patterns, while open chokes spread pellets more for easier close-range hits but less effectiveness at distance.
This addition will provide more variety and flexibility when hunting birds and other shotgun-focused game species, and we are also improving the overall bird hunting experience to make it more responsive, engaging, and enjoyable.
Product Updates
In addition to the major content updates, you'll continue seeing smaller product updates released between major milestones. These updates will introduce new weapons, equipment, and hunting gear to expand your hunting arsenal. Some of these items will come from real-world brands and partners that many of you already know and use. You can look forward to:
New rifles
New shotguns
Additional shotgun chokes
New scopes
Suppressors
Additional hunting equipment and gear
Looking Ahead
There's still a lot to come before the full release of Way of the Hunter 2. In future updates, we will be introducing a highly requested ammo change mechanic, which will further improve the gameplay experience and give players more variety in how they approach their hunts. We also have new animals coming, though we’ll keep those a secret for now—stay tuned for more details.
Throughout the entire Early Access period, we will continue refining animal AI and behavior to achieve the most authentic and simulated gameplay experience possible. This includes improvements across small and big game, as well as ongoing adjustments based on feedback from our focused community rounds.
The dog will also receive new additions, including more advanced training methods to deepen their role in the hunting experience.
The coming months will be focused on polishing existing systems, expanding multiplayer, and preparing the game for launch across all planned platforms.
As always, thank you for your feedback, bug reports, suggestions, and support throughout Early Access. Every update, discussion, and report helps us improve the game and move closer to the experience we all want to create together.
Join our Discord, Steam Community discussions, and social media channels to share your thoughts. We read everything, and we're incredibly excited to show you what we've been working on next.
See you in the wild.
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