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.

Hunt: Showdown 1896, the next chapter of Hunt, where players can join a whole new experience as we leap forward chronologically and head west of the Bayou backwaters to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Crytek announces Web of the Empress, a monumental new in-game event for Hunt: Showdown 1896, launching September 24th 2025 alongside Update 2.5.

This update will drape the Bayou in a grotesque new web of terror, stemming from the horrifying origin story of The Empress: a high-society figure whose mortal wounds were infested by spiders, transforming them into a swarming plague known as the Bileweavers. Players will confront these horrific new enemies, master a game-changing Tarot Card system, and secure two scarce new weapons, all alongside a massive list of gameplay improvements, balancing changes, and bug fixes.

A New Threat Crawls Upon You

After being attacked by Hunters, the high-society Empress was saved when spiders infested her wounds, their webbing staunching the flow of blood. Though she awoke in excruciating pain and was irrevocably corrupted by the experience, she reveres the resulting creatures as her offspring. These grotesquely swollen former spiders, corrupted now and known as Bileweavers, have since swarmed the bayou, growing exponentially with each generation into fiercely territorial swarms that defend their domains with violent disregard for all, including the Empress who claims a maternal bond they do not reciprocate.

While a single Bileweaver may be weak, they are never alone; swarms of them defend their domains, pouncing upon any Hunter that dares to wade into their high-risk, high-reward nesting grounds.

Their ravenous hunger is mirrored in their colossal nests, which evolve from small mounds into tornado-like structures towering above the canopy. Bound by yards of powerful webbing that uproots trees and tears apart buildings, these nests are speckled with bulging eggs and piled with the dead to feed the newborn swarm. Within these vast, destructive infestations, brave souls may find powerful rewards, including:

• New Wildland and Homestead 78 scarce weapons.
• Destiny’s Dial, a machine that grants randomized rewards like traits and buffs.
• Sealed rewards: Scarce and Burn Traits, restoration kits, and ammo boxes.
• Powerful Tarot Cards.

Get Caught in Arcane Webs of Tarot

The Web of the Empress introduces 12 single-use consumable Tarot Cards, each with a unique and potent effect based on its traditional meaning. These cards can tip the scales of fate but often come at a dire cost. Tarot cards are an additional gameplay system that deepens the game of Hunt: Showdown 1896 and brings a new layer to its intense tactical battles.

Some of the Tarot Cards include:

• The Empress: Grants the Catalyst, Necromancer, and a random rare trait.
• The World: Reveals the location of all Boss targets.
• The Fool: Copies the last Tarot Card you used this Mission.
• The Hanged Man: Allows you to spectate the nearest enemy Hunter. The target will be warned afterwards.
• The Tower: Unleashes massive damage to monsters and Targets in a large radius, but sets the user on fire.

Players will be able to find the Tarot Cards in Bileweaver Nests at web-covered locations, earn them through Dark Tributes or loot them from dead Hunters. A new in-game hint system will help players to learn each card’s effect while inspecting a card held in hand.

More information and details about Tarot Cards game mechanics will be available soon.

A Swarm of Gameplay Balancing and Meta Changes in Update 2.5

Crawling out along with Web of the Empress, update 2.5 brings a great number of fixes and improvements to the gameplay, ui and game meta. New Scarce Weapons: Homestead 78 (a long barreled Rival) and Wildland (a modified, high-capacity Centennial) found in the dark corners of the Bayou and the Gulch. Better Melee Combat: Melee weapon hit detection has received significant improvements for better consistency and the maximum reach of melee attachments has been increased.

A lot more awaits players in the Update 2.5: weapon balancing, trait updates, audio adjustments and a much awaited UI & Lobby rework streamlining the Lobby Hub. The Update also addresses a vast number of bugs and exploits, including fixes for boss behaviour, hunter bots, UI issues, and many other gameplay details and quirks – all thanks to the community reports!

Get Caught in the Webs, Soon

Prepare to venture forth into the monster’s lair and deal with the Bileweavers infestation in Web of the Empress. They may be Empress’ children, but would you let them play with you?

Change your fate in a fight with Tarot Cards, find the new scarce weapons, experience the Update 2.5 improvements, and much more – coming soon on September 24th 2025.

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 1896 is available for PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S