For us, there’s one hunting experience that calls the shots – the brilliant theHunter: Call of the Wild. But coming to take that crown is Ultimate Hunting, an Unreal 5 powered shooter.
Set to land on PC in 2025/2026, followed by launch on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and the successor to the Nintendo Switch, Ultimate Hunting should be the most brutally realistic hunter yet. There are also plans to launch in VR too.
Beauty and brutality
Ready to surprise with beauty, realism and brutality, Ultimate Hunting has been revealed with a first official trailer, as the simulator showcases the beauty of hunting reserves in California and Africa. Being developed on Unreal Engine 5, Ultimate Hunting will push the boundaries of realism in hunting games, with every decision and every shot meant to be truly felt, offering both single hunter and cooperative hunting modes for up to 16 people.
It’s being put together by a Polish studio of several people, 3T Games, with Ultimate Games behind the publishing; you’ll know them for the likes of Ultimate Fishing Simulator.
Ultimate Hunting is a realistic open world hunting simulator with single and multiplayer game modes, running up to 16 hunters at a time. It plans to land the shots with extensive gameplay including expedition planning, stealth, tracking or baiting, as players will have the opportunity to take on the roles of hunters who, while exploring nature, discover the habits of local animals, select suitable individuals, and admire the richness and diversity of local flora and fauna. The simulator will offer a choice of first-person or third-person perspective view too.
“Our goal is to capture the pure and true essence of hunting. Ultimate Hunting is a game that will stand out for its realism, which at times will be literally brutal. Thanks to realistic animals shoot reaction, the player will feel more strongly the weight of his decisions and the importance of every shot he takes. We are also working on a whole set of other mechanics and elements that have not been present in hunting games so far, or have only been there in a heavily simplified form, including a Random Antler Generation System (RAGS), dynamic need zones, active camouflage, and much more. Within the ecosystem, individual species will naturally react not only to players, but also to other animals, noise or the current weather. On top of that, the need zones of individual animals will be dynamic, so that each hunt can be a unique experience,” says Rafal Jelonek, producer and director of the game, who privately is a hunter himself.
Unreal 5 powered
Ultimate Hunting is being developed on Unreal Engine 5. As a result, hunting on the African savannah or in the sequoia forests of California is expected to become a delightful and unforgettable experience. Ultimate Hunting will also support ray tracing, DLSS and FSR technologies, among others.
Players will hunt in two vast locations – the California Hunting Reserve and the Southern Africa Hunting Reserve. These reserves are being modelled on real locations, and the flora and fauna present in them will correspond to the real conditions in these places. Each map will cover an area of at least 64 km2.
As the developers of the game point out, it will be possible to hunt a total of more than thirty different species of animals. In California, expect to find California black bears, North American cougars, California mule deer, wild boars, American badgers, western crow, California quail, wood ducks and more. Head to South Africa on the other hand, and you’ll find African bush elephants, South African giraffes, Cape hippopotamus, southern lions, Nile crocodiles, southern chacma baboons, Burchell’s zebra, Cape ground squirrel and more.
Animals will be differentiated by gender, age and weight, among other factors.
Tons of weaponry
Ultimate Hunting will offer a wide range of weapons and hunting equipment. The list includes many variants of firearms (bolt-actions, lever-action, semi-auto, shotguns and revolvers) and silent weapons (bows and crossbows), various types of decoys and baits, optical devices, hunting clothing and footwear, as well as vehicles. There will be two aiming modes with the scope (quick scope and full scope).
The 3T Games team also promises advanced weapon customization with additional accessories. Ultimate Hunting will not lack licensed hunting equipment, including, for example, Titan 6 rifles from the Austrian brand Rößler Waffen and camouflage from the American brand Next Camo.
“Importantly, in Ultimate Hunting, the principles of ethical behavior of hunters will be promoted. This will be evident, for example, in the situation after hunting a deer – the player can leave the carcass of the animal to attract predators with it, and then hunt it. At the same time, he will receive a penalty for leaving the animal in such a way but he can earn more by hunting those predators or …become a prey,” adds Rafal Jelonek.
Ultimate Hunting key features
- a beautiful and realistic open world hunting simulator;
- hunting reserves in California and South Africa;
- mechanics that introduce a new quality in hunting games;
- more than 30 animal species to hunt;
- vast variety of hunting gear (including firearms, bows, calls, baits and more).
- dynamic weather and dynamic need-zone systems;
- singleplayer & multiplayer modes (up to 16 players).
Will we see it soon?
There’s a tentative release window for Ultimate Hunting of 2025/2026, with the simulator also coming later to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. Ultimate Games plans include releasing Ultimate Hunting on Nintendo’s new console, which will replace the Nintendo Switch, as well as preparing a version for VR systems.
Get your eyes on the trailer below and let us know your thoughts. You can wishlist on Steam too.
