Hunters,

As part of our commitment to keeping you informed about our Fair Play Task Force and our actions against cheaters we would like to share with you an update. Since January we have banned a total of 4929 cheaters. In this blog you’ll find a breakdown of these bans by MMR levels along with some insights into how we categorize different cheaters.

Banned Players by MMR distribution

The chart above shows the distribution of MMR levels among players who were banned in recent months. As indicated, cheaters are significantly more likely to be found at higher MMR levels, as their performance improves drastically once they gain the advantage of cheating software. However, bans also occur at lower MMR levels. This can be attributed to players intentionally dying to maintain a low MMR, or more commonly, players being banned when they launch the game with cheats for the first time—before they had the opportunity to use them in a match, or shortly after starting to. We have methods in place to detect when a banned player creates a new account and continues cheating. In such cases, we enforce a zero-tolerance policy: repeat offenders are instantly banned upon account creation.

Types of cheaters

In general, we tend to see two main types of cheaters: “rage cheaters” and “togglers.”

Rage cheaters are the most obvious group. They typically use blatant cheating methods and make little to no effort to hide their behavior. Their goal is often to disrupt the game as much as possible before getting banned, using less sophisticated tools or behaving in ways that are easy to detect. As a result, they are usually caught and banned very quickly.

Togglers, on the other hand, use more subtle and sophisticated methods. They don’t cheat throughout the entire match—instead, they enable cheats only during specific moments where it can provide a critical advantage. From our perspective, these players often appear to be playing normally most of the time, but in certain situations, their performance improves in an unnatural and statistically abnormal way. Because of this selective behavior, our systems need to collect more data over a longer period before it can confirm a ban. This is why some bans take longer and why togglers are often found in higher MMR brackets.

There are also cases where rage cheaters climb the MMR ladder rapidly due to the extreme advantage provided by their cheats. In such instances, they may end up getting banned when they reach higher skill brackets.

One common toggler tactic involves only one player in a group actively using cheats, while sharing information—such as enemy positions—with their teammates through voice chat. This makes detection more challenging, as it’s difficult to determine who is actually cheating and who is simply receiving relayed information. We take extra care in these situations to avoid banning innocent players who may be unaware of their teammates’ actions.

We are actively developing advanced systems focused on identifying and banning cheaters at higher MMR levels. These tools are designed to distinguish genuinely skilled players from those using subtle forms of cheating. While we cannot share specific details about how these systems work—for security reasons—we want to emphasize that this is a top priority for us.

How To Report Suspected Cheaters

If you encounter someone who you think is cheating, who was not picked up by the automatic ban system then please follow the below steps:

While on the death screen you can click “Show killer profile” or press “R” (for PC), RT (for Xbox)/R2 (for PS5) and then select “Report”. You can then fill in the reasons and add any additional information.

Another way to report people is after the Mission is over you can go onto the “Last Mission – Team Details” menu and click on the profile you would like to report and then click on “Actions Menu” or press “F” (PC)/ press X (Xbox)/ press square (PS5) and then “Report”.

Additionally, you can report via our website if you have any additional context you would like to share. You can do this by going to www.huntshowdown.com. In the bottom right corner of the screen, you'll see "Please log in for support". After logging in, open a new ticket, select your language and platform as well as "I'd like to report another player" and the bot will guide you through the process.

We hope this sheds light on what we are doing to combat cheaters; we can’t give away all our methods, but we endeavor to give you as much transparent information as possible! Watch this space for more updates as the year unfolds.

Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 team

Hunters,

It's no secret that Hunt wants to challenge you and push players to their limits, and we often see members of the community looking for hints, tips, and tricks for how to improve their game. So today, we wanted to explore a new style of Developer Insight, sharing insider tips from our developers, mods, and Hunt Partners!

First up—a subject that comes around all the time—what are our favorite ways to earn and save Hunt Dollars?

Let's start with the basics from one of our resident Community Managers, Gustavo:

• Soul Survival is a great mode if you want to make some extra dollars. You can get Hunters and equipment for free, and even if you die then you still earn some Hunt Dollars.
  
• You can always recruit Free Hunters in Bounty Hunt. Every free Hunter comes with a contraband First Aid Kit and Melee weapon, so no need to buy them twice. Even if you don't plan to use the Hunter, you can still take their equipment and use it on other Hunters.
  
• If you are feeling more exploratory and want to play it safe, then you can jump into Missions fully silenced. Kill monsters, get the Clues, rummage for Cash Registers, and then extract. There's no need to fight anyone if you're stealthy enough!

We got some of our mods to help out with their tips too—check out some of our favorites below:
Dizzmaux:

• Something that I made use of when I used to prestige was always going for Clues. I would rush three Clues. Since early prestige weapons were the Frontier 73C, the three Clues would pay for my weapons and some Tools (50 Hunt Dollars per Clue), even if I died.

Heathen15:

• Go to Weapon/Tool/Consumable Progression and type "owned" in the search bar. Sell everything you don't need. Periodically check back, as you accumulate more from rewards than you notice.
  
• Substitute a Dynamite Stick for the Frag Bombs. It's not as deadly, but you can throw 5 or 6 of them for the cost of one Frag.

Of course it's useful to know how to earn Hunt Dollars, but how about the best way to save them? Our other Community Manager, Ari, has some top tips for those of you who want to be more frugal!

• When playing Bounty Hunt, invest four of your starting Upgrade Points into the Packmule Trait. Afterwards, only equip your Hunter with 2 Consumables instead of the max of 4. Once the Mission starts, plan to hit a Supply Point or Toolbox quickly. The random Consumables from these sources will save you money in the long run and could help you try out new Consumables you may not have considered in the past! (Bonus tip: Be sure to keep an eye out towards the base of larger trees for Beetle cocoons, as these can be another source of free Consumables)
  
• After killing an enemy, double check if their weapon might be worth more than what you brought in with you. Even if you aren't able to sell your Contraband after the Mission, upgrading your Frontier 73C to the enemy's Krag could be seen as saving 409 Hunt Dollars!
  
• Instead of taking both a Heavy Knife for close quarters and a set of Throwing Knives to take out that pesky Hive at a distance, consider only taking the Throwing Axes and buffing their melee performance with the Assailant Trait (1 Upgrade Point). This tip will save you Hunt Dollars and give you an additional Tool Slot to use. Careful though! It can be quite treacherous if you lose your Throwing Axes and get caught without a Melee. Consider taking the Blade Seer Trait (also 1 Upgrade Point) to help find those pesky Throwables.

Got any tips yourselves? Share them with your fellow Hunters via our Reddit post found here

Whether you're a beginner or veteran, we hope some of these tips can help you in future Missions, and we look forward to sharing more insights in the future!

Your Hunt: Showdown 1896 team