Horror shooter on Steam now has more players than it did when it was released – why is Hunt: Showdown so popular?

Hunt: Showdown was released in 2018, but has been an insider tip among shooter fans ever since. But now the game can inspire more people than ever before. We at MeinMMO are looking at why that is.

How many players does Hunt have? More than ever, that’s for sure. On the evening of July 27th, 38,272 players played the horror shooter on Steam at the same time. That’s even a whopping 4,000 more than the previous record in August 2021 (via steamcharts.com).

The shooter itself has not been considered an insider tip for a long time. More than twice as many concurrent fans as New World stalk the Louisiana bayou in Hunt. But where did the new record come from so suddenly?

The longest event so far: One of the reasons for this is the current Serpent Moon event. It launched on July 27th and will remain in the game for 61 days. Unlike the previous events, however, it does not bring any real gameplay innovations.

But the following things are included:

Now if you’re thinking that doesn’t sound like a lot of content for a 61 day event, you’re not alone. While previous events scored with completely new weapons, a new boss or a new map, the Serpent Moon is somehow missing the big highlight.

Here you can see the trailer for the event:

The player peak is not due to the event, at least not alone

Where are the players from? It would be too easy to say that the new event is suddenly bringing so many players on board, or in the bayou. Because if we look at the overall picture of the number of players over the last few months, then the event is not bringing as much as it seems.

Hunt: Showdown had the real turning point in March 2021 with the “As the crow Flies” event. Back then, Scrapbeak was introduced as the new and fourth boss, and some themed skins found their way to Hunt.

Permanent growth: While the number of players in the months December 2020 to February 2021 came to 15,500 at best, Schrottschnabel almost doubled the number of players to 32,288. And this high should not break off anymore.

With a few exceptions, Hunt mostly stayed around around 30,000 players. So the rise to 38,272 by the current Serpent Moon is not as relevant as it initially seems. The exceptions to this are the months of May and June 2022, when Hunt was very out of line and heavily depleted, so the event is now more likely to bring back players who have stayed away from the bayou for the past two months.

Hunt: Showdown convinced, permanently

Who plays, stays: If you analyze the player numbers even further, it quickly becomes clear that Hunt: Showdown has been growing slowly but steadily since its release. The community is very attached to their game, which is immediately evident in comments on reddit or on Discord.

More often than not you hear comments like “I’m only buying the DLC now to support the developers”. New events, twitch streamers, and promotions are important to bring new people into the shooter.

But the numbers make it very clear that once the people are there, they tend to stay. Although the game’s core community always has something to complain about, they remain true to their game and have helped Hunt to grow steadily over the years, which so far doesn’t seem to stop.

The highlight so far: In fact, Hunt: Showdown is at its peak so far. Even large and international streamers have recently become aware of the shooter and are digging through the swamps of Hunt. What, loud Fellow GameStar player Dimitry Halley is largely responsible for Hunt’s current success.

Although the game is already a good 4 years old, Hunt will continue to grow for the time being. This is not least due to the currently popular genre of extraction shooters, which also include Hunt: Showdown.

It is therefore also likely that we did not see the last player peak in Hunt: Showdown with Serpent Moon.

According to the numbering, the next major update should at least be “Update 2.0”. Maybe the coveted crocodile boss that players have been wanting for a long time is hiding behind it.

However, Update 1.9 was already the highlight of Hunt for our author Mark Sellner, because he says: In my favorite shooter on Steam, enemies soon stop killing me after I’ve already won