Hunt: Showdown alpha testing will get underway at the end of January

Crytek said in November that its team-based supernatural shooter Hunt: Showdown would begin alpha testing sometime this winter. And so it will, as the studio announced today that the closed alpha phase will get underway on January 31.

Hunt: Showdown is a co-op multiplayer game in which teams of bounty hunters track and kill dangerous, but also very lucrative, supernatural monsters. But it's also got a PvP element, as multiple teams will be competing to bag and claim the same prize—and "competing" in this context means killing each other dead if that's what it comes to.

The game actually began life in 2014 as Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age, but the wheels came off when Crytek ran into financial trouble. It was re-rolled as Hunt: Showdown last year, and while I figured it was little more than a desperate move from a company on the brink, it turned out to be incredibly good when we played with it at E3 2017—in fact, we selected it as our favorite game of the show.

The focus of the alpha will be on testing gameplay, balance, and backend functionality, with participants chosen at random from the signup list. Those lucky enough to get in will be notified via email. Crytek didn't say how many people it's after for this alpha, but if you're interested in taking part (and why wouldn't you be?) you can take your shot at huntshowdown.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.