Fortnite-Style Battle Royale Mode Not Currently Planned For Crytek’s New Shooter

Set in the Louisiana swamps, Crytek’s Hunt: Showdown is unique in the shooter space with its combination of PvP and PvE elements. But could Crytek go further and add a battle royale mode to the mix? We spoke with Crytek product manager Angela de Castro and level design director Chris Auty about this, and it sounds like it could happen someday.

De Castro started off by making it clear that Crytek’s efforts currently are focused on supporting the existing Hunt as it is. But in the future, De Castro said Hunt’s “flexible” nature could give it the opportunity to add new modes down the road, including battle royale. She also said if Hunt is to add a battle royale mode, fans can be sure that it would be unique.

“Right now we’re focused on making Hunt as we have it. But we know this is a flexible game,” she explained. “Because we’re in early access, this is really good for us; we can fine-tune it to what the community wants. If we were to make a battle royale mode or if we were to explore different kinds of modes for the game, we would also try to make it unique. We would also try to make it fit the mood and the spirit of Hunt.”

For his part, Auty said fans are already enjoying Hunt as it is. The suggestion here is that if Crytek is to add a battle royale mode to the game, it won’t happen soon. And like De Castro, Auty said Crytek has no interest in simply following in the footsteps of Fortnite and PUBG.

“Hunt is a pretty unique game as it is,” Auty said. “It sounds a bit arrogant to say that about your own game, but we have had feedback from people saying, ‘There’s not much else like this at the moment.’ And we’re quite proud of that fact. If we were to introduce a [battle royale] mode, it would have to be our take on it. We wouldn’t want to do a cookie cutter, same as everyone else. It would be detrimental to our playerbase.”

Hunt is available on Steam Early Access for $30. Auty told GameSpot that Early Access was critically important for the game, as it allows the developer to gather feedback from players before launch to make it the best game possible. Not only that, but Auty pointed out how being on PC in Early Access gives Crytek the opportunity to respond to feedback incredibly fast–and this might not have been possible if Crytek had gone the traditional boxed product route.

“For us, Early Access was the right way to go,” he said. “It was absolutely the right way to go. We couldn’t have done anything like this if we didn’t have the…