Goal

Add a lightweight system that lets players track promising animals over time and return to harvest them when they are close to their maximum age.

The feature would function like a hunting watchlist. Tracked animals would appear in a list ordered by how close they are to reaching the end of their lifespan.

This creates a new long-term gameplay loop around scouting, herd knowledge, and trophy management while reducing the incentive to repeatedly sleep through multiple in-game days.

Player Flow

1. The player spots a promising animal with binoculars.
2. While aiming at the animal, the player presses a dedicated Track Animal key.
3. A small notification appears: Tracking [Animal Name] progress
4. The animal is added to the player's Trophy Tracking list.
5. The list is accessed from a new button in the bottom-left area of the Map screen.
6. Selecting the button opens a sidebar while keeping the map visible and fully interactive.
7. Each tracked animal is represented by a compact card showing:
   • Species
   • Age / maximum age
   • Fitness
   • Current trophy rating
   • Habitat / biome
   • Estimated remaining lifespan
8. Animals are automatically ordered by remaining lifespan, with animals closest to dying shown first.
9. Clicking an animal's card centers the map on its herd and highlights the herd icon.
10. If the player has already discovered the herd's need zones, those locations are displayed normally so the player can plan the hunt.

Discovery Requirement

An animal can only be tracked if its herd has already been discovered.

The existing herd-discovery rule can be reused:

At least one herd need zone discovered → herd icon appears on the map → animals belonging to that herd can be tracked.

If the herd has not yet been discovered, the Track Animal action should be unavailable.

This keeps scouting relevant and prevents the system from revealing information the player has not earned.

Why This Improves Gameplay

1. Prevents promising trophies from being forgotten

Players frequently encounter high-fitness young or mature animals that could eventually become excellent trophies.

At the moment, there is no practical way to remember every promising animal, its herd, and when it might be worth hunting.

The tracking list turns these encounters into future objectives instead of lost opportunities.

2. Reduces sleep-spamming

When players find a high-fitness animal that is not yet old enough, the optimal strategy can become:

place a tent → sleep repeatedly → check the animal → repeat until it reaches peak trophy potential.

This works mechanically, but it bypasses much of the hunting game.

With a tracking system, the player can mark the animal, leave the area, hunt other species, complete missions, manage populations, explore, or improve habitats, then return naturally when that animal becomes a priority.

3. Creates a persistent hunting objective

The list gives players something meaningful to check whenever they open the map:

Which of my tracked animals is approaching the end of its life?

That creates a rotating set of self-generated hunting objectives based entirely on animals the player personally discovered.

Instead of waiting for the game to provide another activity, the player's own scouting creates future hunts.

Design Principle

The system should organize information the player has already earned, not reveal hidden animals.

The player must:

find the animal → identify its potential → discover its herd → choose to track it → return later and hunt it.

The feature does not guarantee a trophy or reveal the animal's exact location. It simply helps the player maintain awareness of promising animals and reconnect them with their known herd.

This would make long-term trophy hunting more deliberate while encouraging players to spend the animal's remaining lifetime actually playing the game instead of sleeping through it.

Disclaimer: Image created with ChatGPT, text edited with ChatGPT.

Since testing began in June, we’ve released a steady stream of fixes and stability improvements based on your feedback. Update 0.4.0 brought another round of improvements to synchronization, markers, connections, session stability, and crashes. Now we’d love to see as many of you playing as possible over the coming days.

Jump into the Experimental Branch on Steam, team up with a friend, and help us put Multiplayer through its paces.

How to access the branch?  

• Open your Steam Library. 
• Right-click Way of the Hunter 2 and select Properties. 
• Open the Betas tab. 
• Enter the code: WotH2experimental 
• Click Check Code. 
• Select Experimental from the dropdown. 
• Download and install the update. 
• Once the download is complete, you’re ready to jump in.

 

If you want to return to the default version of the game, simply go back to the "Betas" tab and select "None" from the dropdown. 

Before switching, remember to back up your save, as Experimental Branch progress is not backwards compatible with the default branch.
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Don’t have a hunting buddy yet?

Head over to the #looking-for-game channel on our official Discord and find someone to team up with.

Read our recent blog post for more details: https://ninerocksgames.com/posts/multiplayer-lets-get-ready-for-co-op-hunting

Thanks for helping us get Multiplayer ready for the next step.

Good hunting!

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More info about Way of the Hunter 2:

- Website: https://wayofthehunter2.thqnordic.com
- Discord: https://discord.gg/wayofthehunter
- FAQ: https://ninerocksgames.com/posts/faq
- Dev Diary - Why Early Access: https://youtu.be/mB8-zWDIo_0
- Road Map: https://ninerocksgames.com/posts/updated-roadmap-2

Play Way of the Hunter 2 in Early Access on Steam (PC): https://thqn.net/woth2-steam

Pre-Order links for consoles:

• PlayStation: https://thqn.net/4wFGDzk
• Xbox Standard Edition Pre-Order: https://thqn.net/4fGmqn2
• Xbox Deluxe Edition Pre-Order: https://thqn.net/3RzUCro

Or i'll take an RPG or Minigun as an alternative. Hurry before the herd un-glitch itself!

Update 4 has arrived, and it brings a brand-new location to explore, Hearth & Hunt Headquarters. This small map (16 km²/6 sq mi) is home to your new headquarters, an upgradable lodge where you can bring together the trophies collected from every reserve. You'll also meet Elijah, a new NPC ready to show you around, and find a shooting range to sharpen your aim, with more to come there in future updates.

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/hIpdk_Hlxe8

Alongside the new map, this update brings two new shotguns, a new shotgun choke attachment, resized crocodiles, improved duck AI, rebalanced lethal damage, herd group sizing improvement, and over 100 fixes and improvements across the board.

Multiplayer on the Experimental Branch also received another substantial update, with major sync fixes, marker improvements, and better overall stability. For info on how to opt into the Experimental branch and try the multiplayer, please check this blog post.

Full update news abd details: https://ninerocksgames.com/posts/update-0-4-0 (Patch notes also in the comments).

And if you encounter any issues, please report them via THQN Redmine.

Thank you for your continued support, happy hunting!

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More info about WotH 2:

• Website: https://wayofthehunter2.thqnordic.com/
• Updated Road Map: https://ninerocksgames.com/posts/the-road-to-1-0-and-beyond
• FAQ: https://ninerocksgames.com/posts/faq
• Play in EA on Steam: https://thqn.net/WOTH2-Steam
• Pre-Order on consoles: https://ninerocksgames.com/posts/way-of-the-hunter-2-or-release-date-trailer