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.

Update 2 brings new features, equipment, and improvements to the game, many of which were requested specifically by the Hunt community. To celebrate, Hunt will be discounted 20% during the Steam Summer Sale, from June 21 to July 5, available here.

The biggest feature coming with Update 2 is a boost mechanic designed to help those willing to risk taking down the boss monster rather than waiting for someone else to do the dirty work and trying to steal their prize. Whoever kills the boss monster will receive a temporary boost to their Dark Sight, allowing them to locate all other Hunters on the map for a short time and give them a fighting chance to win the match. Additions requested by the community include a death screen, the ability to add a fellow in-game Hunter as a friend in the main menu or in the pause menu during a match, the ability to collect ammo or consumables from dead Hunters, and the addition of Hunt theme music to the game menu.

On top of that, players will find a bear trap, hive bomb, and flare pistol, as well as the Beastface trait—which makes animals on the map less likely to react to you and give away your location—and the Tomahawk trait—which gives Hunters the ability to throw the axe and sledgehammer. A number of optimization improvements have also been included, which will continue to make the entire game experience run more smoothly.

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.