Hunt: Showdown is scrapping leaderboards for playing the game wrong

The developers of the popular shooter Hunt: Showdown are now fed up once and for all with people who just don’t play their game properly. Since nerfs and co. brought nothing, the entire leaderboard is now removed from the game. We at MeinMMO summarize.

What was removed? With the major update 1.9, Hunt: Showdown has made, improved and changed quite a few things in the game. But in addition to the usual changes, one in particular stands out. In fact, observant eyes should have noticed that an entire tab is missing from the game’s main menu, namely the leaderboard.

You can no longer check which KD, how many kills or bosses your friends have. But globally there is currently no way to compare yourself to other players. The system is completely abolished, but not.

Anything recorded by the leaderboard will continue to be recorded by your profile. So you can at least keep an eye on your own values ​​and improve yourself. Only nobody sees that anymore, except you. And that, according to developer Crytek, is the crux of the matter.

Why was the leaderboard removed? According to a developer note in the update’s patch notes, the Hunt leaderboard no longer allows players to play as intended. The leaderboard was meant to be used as a way to find and vote for the best hunter, but according to Crytek, it measures by false values.

Since the leaderboard was automatically sorted by KD (Kill/Death Ratio – how many kills per death), players increasingly began to ignore the actual gameplay. The values ​​of team play, tactics, caution and the hunt for the prey, which is what the whole game is actually about, were often no longer taken into account.

Competitive players just wanted to have the highest KD and be at the top of the leaderboards. As a result, the “best hunters” spent their rounds in the same spot, well camouflaged with a sniper rifle, ignoring what was happening around them.

But the developer, as well as many in the community, sees this way of playing as simply wrong and not wanted. A good KD does not make a good hunter and the leaderboards should no longer pretend that it is. That’s what the fans say.

Here you can see the trailer for the game:

Community breathes a sigh of relief – “The leaderboards were a joke”

How are the players reacting? Primarily relieved. Fans have been demanding for some time that the leaderboards should be changed. The argument here is that people who only play on KD spoil everyone else’s fun. But many can imagine a new leaderboard sorted by successful extractions or killed bosses.

Crytek itself doesn’t want to leave the leaderboard out of play forever either. They are currently working on an adapted version, but didn’t want to wait until it was ready to tackle the problem.

In addition, there is currently a lot of glee in the community on reddit. The KD campers, which the community likes to call “bush Ewoks”, should now have less fun in Hunt. That, in turn, pleases many players.

Some also point out that it simultaneously addresses the problem of smurf accounts. So experienced players who make new accounts to compete against newcomers. Such fresh hunters were often at the top of the leaderboards. Values ​​such as a KD of 45 with 70 kills on 2 deaths could regularly be discovered in the leaderboard. Here it quickly becomes clear that it is a smurf, according to the fans.

What the fans say: We would like to give you some voices from the community so that you can form your own opinion:

• Kom_ writes (via reddit): “What a fantastic update. I’m so proud to be part of this community. I can’t wait to see the game continue to grow.”
• Titan228 writes on Discord: “Once you get into the leaderboard lobbies, the game is just stupid. People can hit well, I’ll give them that, but then it kind of becomes CSGO, but with cowboys. That took the fun out of the game.”
• totally not a spy complains about the update: “Great, now that the leaderboard is gone we can’t even see the hackers.”
• fnetma writes (via reddit): “I’m honestly completely happy with them being removed. People play more naturally when they don’t just focus on their stats.”

What do you personally think of the update? Do you think it makes sense to remove the leaderboards completely? Or did you like fighting your way to the top spots? What do you think of Crytek trying to tell you how to play properly? Write it to us in the comments here at MeinMMO.

Incidentally, our author Mark Sellner loves another change that came with 1.9: In my favorite shooter on Steam, enemies stop killing me soon after I’ve already won