Devil’s Trail Transforms Hunt: Showdown 1896 with Evolved Scouting and Tracking, Hidden Extraction Points and More

Frankfurt am Main – March 18th, 2026 – Today, Crytek released Devil's Trail, a transformative new in-game Event for Hunt: Showdown 1896, which presents the perfect moment to step into the game's uniquely tense and immersive world. Launched alongside Update 2.7, the Event introduces game-changing scouting and tracking mechanics, a new big Battle Pass with plentiful rewards, a fire-spitting new monster, and comprehensive improvements for new players.

Watch the gameplay trailer:

A World That Rewards Curiosity and Caution

Devil's Trail offers a unique tactical twist to the world of Hunt: Showdown 1896, making information the most valuable currency in the bayou and the Colorado mountains. Supply Points, Extraction Points, and new Event-exclusive Burned Convoy locations are now hidden at Mission start. Players must actively uncover them using Scout Towers scattered across the map, which contain interactive Scouting Maps that reveal hidden locations, new Tarot Cards, custom ammunition, and Traits.

This design creates something rare in the genre: genuine uncertainty that rewards exploration and situational awareness. Will you rush toward the known Boss Target lair, or take time to climb a Scout Tower and gain the advantage that its information brings?

Tracking the Rivals

The world of Hunt: Showdown 1896 has always rewarded cunning tactics. Devil's Trail makes it even more responsive to player presence. Doors never fully close once opened. Ammo Crates and First Aid Kits remain visibly used. Explosive barrels leave broken remains. Dog and chicken cage corpses remain where they fell. Used Traits leave scorch marks on the ground. These details create a rich tapestry of information about enemy movements, emboldening the core gameplay: everything you do leaves traces, and everything you see tells a story.

New Tarot Cards take tracking to another level:

And the new “All Ears” Trait transforms Dark Sight into a directional listening device, reducing ambient noise and amplifying enemy sounds in your view direction—a useful skill in difficult weather conditions.

Fire-Spitting New Monster

The Firebreather joins the ranks of monstrosities lurking in the bayou and the gulch. Found among groups of Grunts, this Corrupted pyromaniac spews fire from a distance in devastating long-range attacks. Engage it in melee and small bursts of fire will erupt from its body with each strike. Water Bottles and Choke clouds kill it instantly, and water temporarily disables its fire breath, but explosives prove dangerously unpredictable. Learning to read and counter this monster exemplifies the game's approach to threat assessment.

Built for New Hunters

Devil's Trail welcomes new players, bringing a whole host of improvements. Monsters and Boss Targets are introduced gradually until Bloodline Rank 10, with Boss Target health reduced for newer players. Hunter Bot difficulty scales with player level. The Shooting Range now features moving targets with damage numbers, to better prepare newcomers for the challenges ahead and let them try out weapons before plunging into a Bounty Hunt.

New Ways to Hunt Together

A new cross-platform invite system debuts with this update. Players can generate lobby codes to send multiple simultaneous invitations, with slots filled on a first-come, first-served basis. PC players across Steam and the Microsoft Store can group together, while PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S players can now team up together within the console ecosystem. Lobbies also persist after Missions, making it easier than ever to keep a party together.

Update 2.7 Highlights

Beyond Event content, Update 2.7 delivers significant quality-of-life improvements. Compact Ammo now penetrates thin surfaces more reliably with increased damage multipliers. Weapon balancing includes adjustments to the Vetterli Cyclone, Mako 1895, Berthier 1892, Romero Alamo, Haymaker, and Flame Rifle for smoother performance.

Trait Spurs receive major rebalancing: Meatheads, Brutes, and Ursa Mortises now guarantee drops on death. World-spawn Trait Spurs fade after 90 seconds but offer higher quality, while Sealed Trait Spurs purchased with Pledge Marks remain for full Missions. Trait Spurs are now visible and audible in Dark Sight within a short radius.

Player Profile Customization expands with new badges for Custom Ammo types and Scarce Weapons, giving Hunters more ways to showcase their expertise.

Setting the tone for the in-game event, a brand-new single by Port Sulphur Band - The Devil’s Trail has been released on Steam as well as all major streaming platforms.

More details on the Update 2.7 can be found in the patch notes at Steam.

The Trail Ahead

The Devil's Trail Event is just the beginning. Mid-April brings the return of the “Inferno” Time of Day with increased Hellborn activity, a new Firefighter Supply, and a DLC release. May will deliver even more fan-favorite content, rotating Event elements, and more surprises – as seen on the recently published 2.7 roadmap.

Hunt Now

For those yet to discover Hunt: Showdown 1896, there has never been a better moment. The game's unique blend of PvP and PvE creates Missions where every sound and decision carries weight, and no two extractions feel the same. Your first bounty, your first realization you're the one being hunted—Devil's Trail makes these defining moments more accessible than ever before while adding new tactical depth.

The bayou awaits, and somewhere out there, other Hunters are following trails you've left behind. Follow the Devil's Trail smoke signals and discover tension like no other game.

Devil's Trail is live now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S and will be available until 10th of June 2026.

For more information on Hunt: Showdown 1896 and upcoming events, make sure to follow the official channels:

Youtube - @HuntShowdown

Discord - https://discord.gg/nFqe7r6AwQ

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/huntthegame/

X/Twitter - https://twitter.com/HuntShowdown

TikTok - Hunt: Showdown (@huntshowdownofficial)

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/huntshowdown/

Hunt: Showdown 1896 official website at https://www.huntshowdown.com

Find out more about Crytek at https://www.crytek.com/

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For more information, please contact:

press@crytek.com

About Hunt: Showdown 1896

Hunt: Showdown 1896 is the new era of the competitive first-person bounty hunting game, packing the thrill of survival and the reward of profit into a horror match-based format. Set in Colorado and the Louisiana bayou in 1896, the game boasts a mixture of PvP and PvE elements that create a uniquely tense experience. It's not just the monsters who are a threat—it's every Hunter on the map. In the classic Bounty Hunt game mode, a match pits 12 players—playing solo or in teams of two or three—against each other as they race to take out gruesome creatures for a Bounty Token they must collect and extract from the map. Hunt's Soul Survivor mode offers a shorter match for solo players to scavenge for weapons as they compete for a diminishing pool of bounty. The higher the risk, the higher the reward—but a single mistake could cost you everything. Hunt: Showdown 1896 is out now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Series X|S. For more information, visit http://www.huntshowdown.com