Almost Half Of Hunt: Showdown Players Haven’t Killed A Single In-Game Enemy Ever

According to the game’s GM, 40% of Hunt: Showdown’s players have never actually killed another player in the game. The franchise’s general manager revealed that nearly half of the players never get the “Debut” achievement in the PvPvE title. You need to kill an enemy hunter to obtain this trophy and roughly only 40% of the players acquire it.

David Fifield, the General Manager of the Hunt franchise, expanded more on this topic while talking to PC Gamer at GDC. He talked about the competitive nature of modern shooters and how veterans obliterate newcomers. Fifield called this rookie learning curve “the brick of getting in” which basically translates to a hefty impact rookies have to feel while playing their first matches in Hunt: Showdown.

We have an achievement in Hunt called Debut. It’s ‘kill your first enemy Hunter.’ 40% of our players never get it. We’re a PvP game where you come in, you do some things, and 40% of the people trying Hunt have never killed another player.”

Crytek’s Hunt: Showdown isn’t an easy FPS game to get into. You play as bounty hunters who need to hunt down monsters and collect bounties to reach safe extraction. But, as a PvPvE title, the bosses aren’t the only thing in your way. Other players can also hunt you down after you collect a bounty and steal it from you in order to win. As soon as one player acquires a bounty, everyone will be aware of their location on the map.

However, facing off against others in a match is really up to your luck as there are only 12 players in the game. Whatever the case, Hunt: Showdown is a tense game with a lot of moving parts and a steep learning curve. David Fifield talked about how tricky it is to balance all of these aspects and make them perfect. As per PC Gamer, the General Manager prefers when the underdog comes out on top.

Balance is tricky. In chess, somebody has to move first and so chasing that perfectly fair, perfectly balanced thing? The most skilled person will always win and it actually isn’t that interesting to watch now. When you watch an unbeatable player go on for decades, it is not a thing that a whole bunch of people are flocking to sign up and try, versus the amazing story of the lowly mid three-star who, with an axe, caught a six-star napping somewhere. That’s an amazing story and amazing feeling.”

Learning the PvP aspect is the trickiest aspect of Hunt: Showdown and the stat suggest not many players grab it. Lowering this 40% figure and consequently allowing players to have more fun is one of Fifield’s main goals. The general manager wants to put in more experiences where players master the FPS title at least in some shape before hopping off.

As mentioned before, encountering other players even after getting a bounty is up to chance in Hunt: Showdown. Reaching extraction points without grabbing anyone’s attention isn’t worse than killing players. It is just one of the ways to play the shooting game, but David Fifield still thinks the statistic needs dealing with. The General Manager said:

We’re working on it, challenge accepted.”

Hunt: Showdown is available to play on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.