The Hunter is a free to play online hunting game that artfully combines the most realistic hunting action, with the community and functionality of a social networking site.

Entering its beta testing phase next month, The Hunter features an incredibly realistic and visually detailed hunting environment with true to life animal behaviors. Uniquely, the game gives players the social network tools and web interface to build an online community of hunters, all of whom experience the thrill of the hunt within a connected environment.

Players can track and hunt a huge variety of animals from small varmints to big game and is packed full of challenges, tournaments and competitions, allowing the gamer to work closely with other players to complete objectives while striving for that perfect shot and that record buck.

By using the social interface to post journal entries and images of their latest trophies, players can show their in-game hunts to their friends and the wider online community. Thanks to its online presence, The Hunter will continually evolve with regular updates and the release of new features, including new missions, hunting gear, animals and varied hunting terrains and habitats. Most importantly, the development team behind The Hunter is committed to maintaining an ongoing dialogue with its online community to contribute ideas and suggestions for the game to make it the most realistic hunting experience available.

Christofer Sundberg, Avalanche Founder & Creative Director said: “The Hunter offers an amazing real-life hunting experience. Using our next-generation landscape engine we are able to recreate the ‘out in the field’ hunting experience that includes a wide range of weather, animal behavior and terrain that can be shared within the gaming community as well as across other popular social networks to extend this phenomenally rich game experience.”

As the game continually develops, Emote Games anticipates The Hunter to become a top destination for gamers and fans of hunting games. Emote is currently in talks with a range of potential partners to gain valuable insight into the world of hunting in order to offer a full and varied hunting experience as close to the real thing as possible.

Adds Morgan O’Rahilly, CEO, Emote Games: “We are delighted to be working with Avalanche Studios. Emote is passionate about making this game as true to life as possible, so when it came to choosing a development partner, we wanted to ensure we were working with the best. We are currently in discussions with hunting communities across the US to develop long-term mutual partnerships with experts and suppliers to make The Hunter the world’s best hunting game.”

The Hunter will be available on PC and web with console versions to follow.