Crytek claims that their improvements for Hunt: Showdown’s shaky hit registrations have resulted in a “significant improvement.”
The underappreciated battle royale has long been plagued with vexing hit registration, particularly in close-quarters fighting. Over the years, several Reddit and Steam postings have pointed out how shots aren’t recognized, even when blood spatter animations are performed to signify a hit.
Crytek first addressed the game’s hit registration concerns in February 2019 with a lengthy, rather technical blog post. It explained how to hit registrations operate, primarily by the server anticipating the shot and favoring the shooter. However, due to difficulties such as de-synchronization and latency, it hasn’t always worked that way. Crytek stated that it was beginning to collect data in order to pinpoint the issues, as well as looking into ways to improve the hit validation system “so that it is lenient enough about desync that it does not invalidate legitimate shots, but strict enough that it does not open the game up to exploitation.”
After then, not much was stated, until, in early 2021, an influx of gamers reported problems with hit registration. Crytek acknowledged the “increase in hit registration difficulties” in a blog post, providing the first substantial update on the matter in almost two years. The heart of the problem appears to be that the game assumed whoever fired the gun was dead.
After then, not much was stated, until, in early 2021, an influx of gamers reported problems with hit registration. Crytek acknowledged the “increase in hit registration difficulties” in a blog post, providing the first substantial update on the matter in almost two years. The heart of the problem appears to be that the game assumed whoever fired the gun was dead.
“We discovered that many invalidations occur because the server viewed the player whose bullets were invalidated as already dead,” according to the article. “As a result of this, we were able to identify this specific issue and considerably improve the situation.” According to Crytek, the past month’s update, which included certain improvements, resulted in “a significant improvement in hit registration issues” as well as an increase in kill trades due to “fewer fair shots being invalidated and a more fair and accurate exchange of hits.” Crytek said it’s still looking for and fixing hit registration issues elsewhere and asked gamers to “be patient with us.”
Several players have stated that they have seen an increase in kill trades following the patch, with user Jenn FTW stating “I’ve certainly noticed a recent spike in exchanges. I’m glad there’s an explanation; I’m actually a fan of this move.” Another Reddit user stated that they’ve had more kill exchanges since the patch than they had since starting to play the game.
Of course, not everyone agrees. A recent Reddit post mentions an increase in kill swaps, but with the caveat that hits are still not registering as they should. Some have even claimed that the problem has become worse since the patch, however, Crytek’s data appears to contradict.
Despite a mixed reaction, Crytek’s data is improving. It’s great news for a game that depends so heavily on perfect aim and where headshots instantly kill you. It also comes at a good time for Hunt: Showdown, since the new map, the first since the game’s launch in 2018, is set to arrive this month.
