Savage, nightmarish monsters roam the Louisiana swamps, and you are part of a group of rugged bounty hunters bound to rid the world of their ghastly presence. Banish these creatures from our world, and you will be paid generously—and given the chance to buy more gruesome and powerful weapons. Fail, and death will strip you of both character and gear. Your experience, however, remains in your pool of hunters—called your Bloodline—always.

Hunt’s competitive, match-based gameplay mixes PvP and PvE elements to create a uniquely tense experience where your life, your character, and your gear are always on the line. At the beginning of each match, up to five teams of two set out to track their monstrous targets. Once they’ve found and defeated one of these they will receive a bounty—and instantly become a target for every other Hunter left on the map. If you don’t watch your back, you’ll find a knife in it, and your last memory will be of another team of Hunters walking away with your prize. The higher the risk, the higher the reward–but a single mistake could cost you everything.

In addition to new content, the update also includes a large number of tweaks, changes, and bug fixes for the Early Access title. With Content Update 1, players will gain access to five new weapons equipped with scopes as well as two new tactical bombs and eleven new Hunter outfits. Twelve new traits, which boost players’ performance and capabilities in various ways, are also debuting with this update.

In response to community feedback, one of the update’s biggest goals was to reduce the advantages for campers by changing level architecture and layout, as well as adding rewards for players who successfully banish the boss. You can learn more about these changes in a video with Level Design Director Chris Auty. In another video, Lead Designer Dennis Schwarz and Senior System Designer David West also address this issue, as well as some of the changes and additions to weapons, gunplay, traits, hunters, and audio.

Many smaller changes were made as well: the addition of fall damage, map readability improvements, a rebalance on player footstep audio, and much, much more. All of the details can be found in the Update Patch Notes.

Even in death, you will be able to progress among the ranks of Hunters via your Bloodline. Though one character may die, their experience will be transferred to your Bloodline, where it can be applied your other Hunters. If you make it off of the map alive, you will be able to use the money and experience you earn to kit out new Hunters and prepare for the next match. If you die, you lose everything but your experience.

Dark Sight allows Hunters to see into the veil between worlds, making that which cannot be seen by mortal eyes visible to those who have been initiated. Use Dark Sight when you are tracking monsters, and a ghostly light will guide you toward your next target. Dark Sight also marks players carrying a bounty, making them more vulnerable to ambush while trying to escape.

Hunt: Showdown is now currently available via Steam Early Access, priced at 29.99 EUR/USD and 25.99 GBP.