Biggest, Bloodiest Update to Hunt: Showdown 1896 is Almost Here

Hunters,

This September 8 ^th we bring you a grim tale of dark experiments, a story of monstrous hunger, and bloody, Corrupted promises of power in Blood Testament. Our new in-game Event will be the biggest one this year, and will bring with it Update 2.9 with good bloody content and many exciting changes.

Take a look at the trailer for Blood Testament now:

Blood Testament: Event Official Cinematic Trailer: Hunt: Showdown 1896

A New Nightmare Is Rising
Desperate men make easy victims. Corruption can take everything from a man, and one such Hunter named Warren Russett lost it all, until Lynch came along and offered her newly formulated blood serum. Russett became hopelessly addicted, gaining an insatiable thirst for blood to tremendous and deadly consequences.

This is the story of Blood Testament, and it is up to players to discover its twisted ending. With Update 2.9, Hunt: Showdown 1896 brings a massive Community Event—Make Them Bleed—in which all players will participate by earning points earned through completing objectives in Missions and unlocking major new changes to gameplay.

Community Event Points can be earned through a blood sacrifice of killing monsters and Targets, as well as interacting with Blood Wells.

Blood Wells have sprung up all over the bayou and the gulch. You can find one per compound, and just like a Clue, each Blood Well can be interacted with once by each team. Introducing a new layer of strategy to each Bounty Hunt, Blood Wells grant Hunters a new Burn Trait called Siphon in exchange for a small portion of their health.

Make Them Bleed’s progression will be split into three stages, each unlocking a new significant reward. Stage I will reward the whole community with the new Time of Day Blood Moon, and Stage II will give a new bloodthirsty Trait—Chupacabra. Stage III, however, will unleash the true new nightmare on the bayou.

Bloody New Traits
Blood Testament will reward the players with unique, game-changing new Traits:

• Siphon Burn Trait: acquired by players through interacting with Blood Wells. It allows the looting of a Scarce Trait off an enemy Hunter’s body, leaving the “Siphon” Trait in its place. Blood Wells will be present in-game during Make Them Bleed through Stages I and II.
  
  
• Chupacabra Burn Trait: allows players to interact with animals in-game to restore 1 Health Chunk. Can be purchased for 2 Upgrade Points when unlocked.
  
  

The Blood Moon Above
Blood Testament brings a chilling atmosphere by introducing a dynamic new Time of Day. The Blood Moon rises into the night, changing the aesthetic of the maps while empowering the monstrous fauna of the Hunt. Blood Moon adds a twist to the flow of PvP fights, with two phases for players to encounter:

• During the Intense Blood Moon, a crimson light breaks through the stormy clouds, bathing the map in a stronger red glow and driving monsters to attack more aggressively and quickly.
  
  
• When the Dark Blood Moon occurs, dark clouds cover the sky, reducing visibility and protecting the bayou and the gulch from the influence of the red glow, returning monster behavior to normal.
  
  

Brutal Firepower
Hunt is well known for its intricate weapon designs, and Blood Testament brings some exciting new additions to the game accordingly:

• The Burgess is a foldable, slide-action shotgun with a long barrel and a 6-round magazine. Its weapon capacity of Size 3 comes at the cost of long equip and unequip animations. It can be used with the “Bulletgrubber” Trait to recover ejected live shells.
  
  
• The Burgess Bayonet variant adds a blade to the original weapon, at the cost of longer deployment time.
  
  
• The Burgess Trauma variant features a reinforced stock that changes the heavy melee attack into a hammer strike.
  
  

During Blood Testament, all Burgess variants are unlocked via the Battle Pass and will stay unlocked through Prestige. The weapons will be added to normal weapon progression after the conclusion of the Event.

Update 2.9
Blood Testament launches alongside Update 2.9, bringing sweeping changes shaped by community feedback.

• Combat sees significant shifts. The Hunting Bow’s one-hit kill range and reserve ammo have been reduced, while the Terminus gains increased damage and tighter spread. Slug pricing drops across multiple weapons, and the new LeMat High Velocity Ammo enters the arsenal. Tool and Consumable prices have been adjusted, and the Heavy Knife swing melee hit detection has been heightened to improve the chance of landing a hit.
  
  
• Traits can now be saved as part of Loadouts (0–15 per build, at a dual cost of Hunt Dollars and Upgrade Points), and the number of potential Hunter Slots has expanded from 75 to 100.
  
  
• The bayou grows more treacherous: all Extraction Points, Supply Points, and Scout Towers are now hidden by default. Interacting with a Clue reveals two Extraction Points, and Scouting Maps can appear at any Supply Point. In addition, the Spyglass is still able to reveal hidden compass icons.
  
  
• Matchmaking and security have been overhauled. MMR Decay now grants returning players a temporary modifier that reduces matchup difficulty after a longer absence, gradually tapering off as they shake off the rust.
  
  
• The New Player Modifier follows the same philosophy, replacing the old flat reduction that abruptly ended at a specific Bloodline Rank with a smoother curve that gives newcomers a fairer fighting chance against similarly skilled opponents.
  
  
• On the security front, Fair Play Follow Up marks the first step toward more complex reimbursements: players whose Hunters fell to a confirmed cheater will now receive an automatic flat reimbursement in Hunt Dollars, while those whose reports lead to action will receive a notification of success. Both scenarios trigger a pop-up message on the first login after the cheater is dealt with.
  
  

Be Prepared
Blood Testament will be a big addition to Hunt, and we look forward to seeing the community come together to fight for a common goal. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or just arriving to the bayou, it’s a good time to test yourself: will you join the fight against Corruption or take its side? Let’s see what the Blood Moon brings this September.

- Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 Team