Hunt: Showdown 1896
Got a phone and WiFi? Hunt has a hard 225ms server cap — above it, your bullets are discarded. PingAim sends HuntGame.exe through whichever interface measures the smallest ping to Leaseweb datacenters, helping keep latency well clear of the cap even when your home connection spikes.
Does PingAim Help in Hunt: Showdown 1896?
More about Easy Anti-Cheathow it works · what it blocks · known conflicts
Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) by Epic Games. Runs as a kernel-level driver (easyanticheat.sys). Includes EOS (Epic Online Services) integration with eac_eos.exe and eac_eos_setup.exe. EAC installs via EasyAntiCheat_Setup.exe in the game directory.
VPN and network optimizers
Crytek has not banned VPN or network optimizer usage. WTFast has an official Hunt: Showdown support page. ExitLag is openly discussed in Steam forums as a high-ping fix. Some community members have called for Crytek to block VPNs due to ping abuse, but no policy action has been taken. Crytek instead implemented a server-side ping cap (~225ms) as their countermeasure.
Known software conflicts
- EAC sometimes fails to initialize after Windows updates — requires repair via EasyAntiCheat_Setup.exe
- Some VPN clients cause EAC initialization errors (network adapter conflict, not ban)
- easyanticheat.sys kernel driver can conflict with older third-party antivirus software
- Anti-cheatEAC
- ProtocolUDP
- Tick rate30 HZ
- ConnectionDedicated
- HostingLeaseweb (dedicated servers, c…
- EngineCryEngine 5.11
- NATModerate
- LauncherSteam (PC)
- Install size45 GB
Why ping matters in Hunt: Showdown 1896
Latency sensitivity CriticalPing decides duels — sub-50ms is competitive territory.
Hunt: Showdown is critically sensitive to latency for two compounding reasons. First, the game uses fully simulated projectile physics — bullets travel at real in-game velocity with drop, meaning at higher ping you must mentally compensate for both bullet travel time AND network delay simultaneously. Second, the permadeath mechanic makes every hit registration failure existentially costly — losing a max-level hunter due to desync is not a minor inconvenience but a real loss of progression. The server enforces a hard ~225ms ping cap and actively discards shots fired by players above this threshold (Crytek 'Developer Insight: High Ping Separation' and 'State of Hit Registration in Hunt' developer posts). Per Henderson & Bhatti 2003 (FPS QoE study, DOI 10.1145/944592.944601) and Raaen 2014 (action-game tolerance survey), peeker's advantage in this latency band gives aggressive players a measurable edge over defenders.
About Hunt: Showdown 1896background, studio, esports scene
Hunt: Showdown 1896 is a competitive multiplayer first-person extraction shooter developed and published by Crytek. Set in the dark, monster-infested bayous of Louisiana in the year 1896, players take on the role of bounty hunters tasked with tracking and killing supernatural creatures. Matches support up to 12 players divided into solo hunters or teams of two or three, all competing simultaneously to claim bounty tokens and extract alive. The game blends PvE monster hunting with tense PvP encounters — any player can become both hunter and hunted in the same match.
Built on CryEngine 5.11, the game uses fully simulated projectile physics for all weapons — bullets have travel time, drop, and velocity degradation, meaning hitting moving targets at range requires leading your shots. This physics model, combined with the game's signature permadeath mechanic (losing a hunter erases their gear and progress), makes every network interaction consequential. Hit registration, desync, and peeker's advantage are recurring community concerns because a single bullet can end a beloved character.
Originally launched in early access in February 2018 and fully released in August 2019, the game was rebranded to Hunt: Showdown 1896 on August 15, 2024, coinciding with a major engine upgrade (CryEngine 5.11) that brought the game to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S with current-gen visuals. While lacking a traditional esports scene, it maintains a dedicated community of several hundred thousand active players and is known for having one of the most loyal fanbases among survival-PvP shooters.
- Studio
- Crytek
- Released
- 2019
- Platforms
- Windows, PlayStation, Xbox
- Engine
- CryEngine 5.11
Explore the Hunt: Showdown 1896 Guide
PingAim detects Hunt: Showdown 1896 automatically
No manual config. PingAim identifies Hunt: Showdown 1896 by process name and routes it through your fastest connection using a kernel-level WFP driver.
When does PingAim help — and when doesn't it?
PingAim helps when...
- Phone on 5G tethering available — PingAim moves HuntGame.exe to 5G when home connection approaches the 225ms cap
- WiFi and Ethernet both active — PingAim picks whichever has lower ping to the Leaseweb server
- Streaming or downloading simultaneously — separates game traffic to prevent bufferbloat pushing ping above the cap
- Congested home connection during evening prime time — reroutes through backup interface
- Dual-WAN or office network — binds game traffic to the gaming-optimized uplink
- Windows defaulting to the wrong interface — PingAim overrides the routing decision for HuntGame.exe
- ISP has poor peering with Leaseweb (common in UK and Eastern Europe)
Won't help when...
- Only one internet connection — second interface required for selection to do anything
- Already on a stable, low-latency path to the nearest Leaseweb server
- Packet loss from WiFi interference or damaged Ethernet — physical layer issue routing cannot fix
- FPS drops and frame time issues — CPU/GPU bound, not network
- Easy Anti-Cheat (kernel-level) post Update 2.0 — use PingAim's WFP driver mode only; do NOT enable DLL-injection mode for HuntGame.exe. Crytek's tightened EAC has community-reported false positives (error 0x40000c) on some kernel/overlay configurations, so the network-stack approach is the safer route
Related Games
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Recent Updates
Community & Official Resources
Where players talk and where the publisher posts updates.