The Trail Starts Here: Way of the Hunter 2 Now Available in Early Access

We’re excited to finally open the gates and let players step into the next chapter of Way of the Hunter 2. Early Access allows us to build the game together with the community and shape the experience based on your feedback while systems and features are still evolving. The game is already fully playable and contains the core experience, but this is only the beginning. During Early Access, we will continue improving the game, adding new features, content, and polishing the overall experience step by step.

Check out the Way of the Hunter 2 trailer on YouTube: https://youtu.be/czET4p2CmY0Welcome to New Laurentia!

Early Access takes you to the vast hunting region of New Laurentia, inspired by the Canadian wilderness and ready to be explored. Our goal with Way of the Hunter 2 is to create the most immersive and authentic hunting experience out there.

Building on what we learned from the first Way of the Hunter and the feedback we received from players, Way of the Hunter 2 will continue to grow with future updates, expansions, and long-term support.

As the new hunter in town, you’ll take on unique challenges across two breathtaking environments and meet a cast of memorable NPCs. In New Laurentia, you’ll team up with a skilled dog trainer and assist the former warden as you uncover the mystery behind the unusual behaviour of the local moose population.

Play Way of the Hunter 2 in Early Access now:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2543830/Way_of_the_Hunter_2/

Way of the Hunter 2 is launching in Early Access, and you may encounter bugs, missing features, or technical issues. We are actively working on fixes and improvements, and the game will continue to evolve throughout Early Access.

If you encounter any issues, we would really appreciate it if you could report them via THQN Redmine.

Before submitting a report, please check the known issues list below, as these are issues we are already aware of and are currently working on fixing.

Stability and performance issues such as FPS drops, stuttering, or crashes may occur. If you experience a crash, the best thing to do is report it and include your DxDiag and information about what happened just before the crash. We usually receive crash logs automatically, but clear reports help us resolve issues faster.

You and your companion 
Entering deep water, even with a vehicle, may cause the player to lose consciousness and respawn at the lodge, so we recommend avoiding deeper water. Players may also encounter some inconsistencies in the Vicinity menu (for example, the shop being accessible outside the lodge), and high FOV values may cause the camera to clip into the character model. The dog may sometimes get stuck around lodges or cabins, and its ears may look unnatural when sitting.

Missions and NPCs 
Objective markers may not always appear correctly on the hunting map. The “Hunting Solo” mission may sometimes not register properly, and you may need to harvest multiple Mallards to complete the objective. Also, some NPC dialogues may trigger too early or overlap. We are looking into these issues.

Animals 
In certain situations, animals may exhibit unintended behaviors, such as becoming stuck while grazing, failing to flee when shot, acting abnormally after sustaining injuries, clipping through terrain or vegetation, or, in some cases, birds flying in circles in specific areas of the map. We are actively developing improvements to address these animal behavior issues.

Additionally, vehicle collisions with animals may not always register properly, grass may not bend correctly beneath harvested animals, and animal fur can sometimes flicker when viewed up close. Fixes for these issues are currently underway.

Taxidermy 
The taxidermy and trophy display system may currently have some inconsistencies with trophy placement or visual issues. We’ll continue improving it during Early Access and are working on fixes for non-functional slots in dioramas and wall mounts, trophy poses, and various visual issues.

Gear 
Weapons, binoculars, and some scopes may display incorrect stats or text mismatches in the shop and storage, and some gear may occasionally have visual glitches. Shotguns may sometimes reload two shells at once, arrows on bows and crossbows may not appear correctly, and some gear, like tents, can currently be placed in water where it should not be placeable. These are known issues and will be corrected in upcoming updates.

Photo mode 
Some Photo Mode settings sometimes don’t work as expected and may cause visual glitch, like the sun turning black. The camera may sometimes behave unexpectedly, and some features, such as posing multiple animals or reset may not work correctly. Photo Mode will get some more love during Early Access.

Menus and Game’s Interface (UI) 
You may encounter various UI issues, such as missing or incorrect interaction prompts, incorrect map icons or tracking markers, overlapping or misaligned UI elements, missing or truncated text, incorrect formatting, or incorrect information on claim screens and in the hunting log. Some objective prompts or dialogue UI elements may also not update correctly. We are working on these.

Input, Keybinding and Controller 
In some cases, controller inputs may stop working or behave inconsistently. The Dual Sense controller may sometimes fail to allow input, and some actions may not rebind correctly, like the Action Menu, crouch/prone, Photo Mode, or Hunting Map. Sliders and some inputs may also behave inconsistently when using a controller. We’re working on input improvements.

Localization 
Some non-English languages may display missing or incorrect localization in the UI, including untranslated items, missing text in menus, untranslated pop-ups, text overflow, or placeholder texts. Localization improvements are ongoing.

Audio 
Some audio issues may still occur, including audio desynchronization, sharp or overly loud sounds (such as running water), or missing sound cues for certain animals. Fast travelling may also cause overlapping dialogue or performance drops. Restarting the game should resolve these issues. 

Way of the Hunter 2 Early Access launch price is $29.99 / €29.99. The price will increase during Early Access, and the full 1.0 release will be priced at $39.99 / €39.99. There is also a 20% launch discount available until April 9, 2026, which reduces the Early Access price to $23.99 / €23.99 for a limited time.

Early Access is currently planned to last around six months, although the timeline may change depending on development progress and community feedback.

Moving to Unreal Engine 5 is a big step forward for the series. It allows us to improve performance, add new features, and support the game long-term. During Early Access, we will release regular updates with fixes, improvements, new features, and additional content.

Here’s a first glimpse of what's coming next, with a more detailed roadmap coming next week, so you’ll have a clearer view of what’s planned during Early Access development.

And lastly, join developers from Nine Rocks Games as they play the Early Access launch live. We’ll walk you through New Laurentia, show more of the map, and introduce one of the new NPCs. This time, the stream will be hosted by Jozef (Marketing Manager), Michal (Associate Producer), and Miroslav (QA Engineer).   

Watch the stream via Nine Rocks Games' YouTube channel today, March 26, 2026, at 5:00 PM CET.

We also recently published an FAQ that answers many common questions, including planned platforms for the full release, information about upcoming features, and more. Read the Way of the Hunter 2 FAQ to stay up to date.

If you made it all the way down here, cheers. We really appreciate your feedback and support.

Happy hunting, and see you on the live stream!

More info about Way of the Hunter 2:
Website: https://wayofthehunter2.thqnordic.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/wayofthehunter

Enjoy & stay tuned!