Hunt Showdown has been on something of a wild ride this year. The launch of its enormous 1896 update, which added a new map and was essentially a soft reboot for the extraction FPS, saw it reach new heights when it comes to its Steam player count. However, sweeping changes to core elements like Hunt’s UI saw it get viciously review-bombed by some of its most hardcore, dedicated fans. Having only just recovered from that barrage, another huge wave of review bombing has ensued over recent days due to the reveal of Hunt’s first ever in-game collaboration
This crossover sees Ghostface from the Scream movies enter Hunt Showdown as part of a $9.99/ £8.99 cosmetic bundle called Ghost Face Rampage. Not only do you get to play a Hunt-ified version of the iconic killer, but you’ll also receive two themed guns and a knife. However, the reception to Ghostface – who has also cropped up in other FPS games like Call of Duty Warzone and, naturally, asymmetrical horror game Dead By Daylight – has been extremely frosty.
Despite developer Crytek clearly making some effort to make the character fit in its 19th century shooter (it even wrote a short passage of lore in the Steam description for the bundle) that hasn’t stopped fans venting their frustrations. As well as being disappointed that a villain from a 1990s horror movie is appearing in a game set a hundred years earlier, there is a general disillusion with the fact that Hunt is going down the same route as the likes of Call of Duty and Fortnite and is chasing collaborations from outside its universe.
With the Ghostface bundle dropping today, October 24, Crytek has now put out a statement standing firm against the criticism from players and explaining its approach to crossovers.
“[The addition of Ghostface] has spurred discussion within the community about the inclusion of IP collaborations, and what that means for the future of Hunt,” Crytek says. “Our approach to identifying and evaluating collaborations focuses on working with IPs and personalities that we feel remain true to their brand while blending seamlessly with our themes, setting, and storytelling.”
“The aim for us is to enrich the narrative and weave new threads into the ever-evolving mythos of Hunt in a whole new way. Not to simply drop new characters into the game, but to write compelling new narratives involving these crossovers to create a richer experience for established players and invite new players into our world with a few familiar faces.”
Crytek concludes its message by specifically circling back to Ghostface, saying: “We believe the latest Ghost Face Rampage DLC fits into the dark, supernatural atmosphere as an ageless, almost mythological figure that transcends eras.”
Despite Hunt Showdown seeing a spike in negative reviews around the time the Ghostface collab was announced, and the game sitting at a mere 45% positive Steam review rating over the last 30 days, all the recent backlash really hasn’t moved the needle when it comes to player counts – Hunt continues to average between 20,000 and 30,000 concurrent players, which is a similar level to before the big 1896 overhaul. Crytek, then, clearly isn’t too worried. The wording of the statement makes it sound a lot to me like more crossovers will arrive in the game – it wouldn’t surprise me if some arrangements were already in place – and there’s probably not much that will stop long-time players from being unhappy about them.
The Ghost Face Rampage bundle is out now in Hunt Showdown 1896. If you’ve never played Hunt before, you can learn more about the game and add it (and the Ghostface bundle) to your Steam library here.
For more extraction experiences, head over to our best multiplayer games guide. Alternatively, if you want to try something new with dark and tense vibes like Hunt, our best horror games list is the place to go.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.