The Blood Moon Is Only the Beginning: Hunt’s Next Nightmare Arrives October 6

The bayou has already tasted blood, but Crytek is nowhere near finished. Blood Testament enters Chapter 2 on October 6, bringing another substantial wave of content to Hunt: Showdown 1896 with sweeping changes to compounds, a new Community Event, another Story Challenge, two additional Tarot Cards, a new Tool, Twitch Drops, fresh DLC and several horrors the studio is deliberately keeping hidden until closer to launch.

A newly released Chapter 2 trailer offers the first glimpse at what comes next after September’s violent opening act. It is intentionally more tease than explanation, but the scope is clear: Blood Testament was never designed as a static event that simply stayed active for several months. Crytek wants the world, mechanics and story surrounding it to evolve as the corruption spreads.

Blood Testament was built to change while players were inside it

Blood Testament began on September 8 alongside Update 2.9, introducing one of Hunt’s most ambitious event structures to date.

At the center of the story is Lynch and her latest attempt to manipulate the Corruption. Her experimental blood serum promised power, but its effects proved considerably more grotesque. Warren Russett, a desperate Hunter who placed his faith in Lynch, became consumed by an uncontrollable thirst and eventually transformed into Bloodskin, the monstrous Target that now stalks Hunt’s corrupted territories.

Crytek did not simply introduce that creature through a conventional patch.

The opening chapter revolved around Make Them Bleed, a server-wide Community Event in which the entire player base contributed toward shared milestones by killing monsters and Targets and interacting with Blood Wells.

Progress unlocked permanent additions to the event for everyone.

The first milestone brought the Blood Moon, a dynamic Time of Day in which the environment alternates between intense crimson illumination and darker periods of reduced visibility. During its more powerful phase, monsters become more aggressive and attack faster.

Stage 2 unlocked Chupacabra, a Burn Trait allowing Hunters to restore a lost Health Chunk through animals found in the world.

The final stage unleashed Bloodskin itself.

Players completed those milestones rapidly, with Bloodskin becoming available only days after Blood Testament began. Chapter 2 now gives Crytek an opportunity to change the equation again instead of allowing the remainder of the event to become a long repetition of September’s activities.

Compound changes could have the biggest impact of everything teased

The most consequential phrase in the new trailer may also be the vaguest: “Sweeping Compound Changes.”

Crytek has not yet detailed exactly which compounds are being altered or what those revisions involve. Those specifics are expected to be addressed during the Chapter 2 Developer Livestream scheduled for October 1 at 6 PM CEST.

Even without those details, compound reworks are significant in Hunt in a way that ordinary environmental changes are not.

A compound determines sightlines, rotation routes, defensive positions, breach opportunities, sound traps and the ways rival teams can approach a Boss lair. Moving an entrance, opening a wall or changing vertical access can alter how experienced players handle an entire location.

That is particularly important in a game whose community has had years to memorize map geometry.

Veteran Hunters know where enemies are likely to peek, which routes expose them to long-range fire, which windows are dangerous and how quickly another team can rotate between particular positions. A sufficiently broad compound overhaul disrupts some of that accumulated knowledge and forces players to relearn familiar territory.

Crytek’s wording suggests something more substantial than decorative Halloween dressing, although the studio has wisely avoided describing the individual changes before the livestream.

Another Community Event means cooperation is returning

Chapter 2 will also introduce a new Community Event.

That is notable because Make Them Bleed was one of Blood Testament’s defining experiments. Instead of every player progressing exclusively through an individual event track, the entire Hunt community worked toward the same major unlocks.

Crytek has not announced what the second community objective will require or what its milestones will unlock.

The important part is that the concept is returning immediately rather than being confined to Blood Testament’s launch period.

Community progression creates an unusual dynamic for an extraction shooter built around distrust and competition. Hunters may murder one another over Bounty Tokens every match, but their actions simultaneously contribute toward a common global goal.

Make Them Bleed used that contradiction effectively.

Players were still playing Hunt normally — killing monsters, pursuing Targets and exploring compounds — but those actions became part of something much larger happening across every active match.

Chapter 2 now has the opportunity to push that idea further, particularly because the first Community Event has already changed Blood Testament’s world by unlocking Blood Moon, Chupacabra and Bloodskin.

The story continues with another free challenge

The narrative is moving forward as well.

Chapter 1 introduced the free Written in Blood Story Challenge after Bloodskin was unleashed, allowing players to continue investigating the consequences of Lynch’s experiments while completing gameplay objectives.

Chapter 2 will add another Story Challenge.

Crytek has not revealed its title or the precise direction of the story yet, but the trailer repeatedly emphasizes that the “testament is not yet complete.” That makes the challenge more than another source of progression rewards: it is part of the mechanism Crytek is using to deliver Blood Testament as an evolving narrative rather than a single lore dump at launch.

The previous chapter established Warren Russett’s tragedy in considerably more detail.

He began as a desperate father willing to trust Lynch’s promises, only to become the foundation for one of her most horrific experiments. Supplementary material such as the Bloodskin Mythos entry and the Corruption’s Cup Dime Novel has further expanded Lynch’s increasingly dangerous role.

Chapter 2 appears ready to continue pulling on those threads.

Two new Tarot Cards expand one of Hunt’s stranger tactical systems

The trailer also confirms two new Tarot Cards.

Again, Crytek has stopped short of formally revealing their effects ahead of the developer presentation.

Tarot Cards have become another way of giving Hunters temporary opportunities that do not fit neatly into conventional Traits, weapons or Tools. Their value can depend heavily on when and where they are used, adding another layer of situational decision-making to matches.

Introducing two additional cards during Chapter 2 means the system is continuing to expand rather than remaining frozen at its earlier selection.

For now, their identities and functionality should be treated as unrevealed. Individual frames visible in promotional material have already prompted community theories, but Crytek has not yet provided the complete mechanical descriptions needed to judge how significant they will be.

The October 1 livestream should resolve that uncertainty.

A new Tool joins an already unconventional arsenal

Another gameplay addition arrives in the Tool slot.

Hunt’s Tools are easy to underestimate because they do not occupy the same headline position as rifles, shotguns or sidearms, but some of them fundamentally influence how encounters unfold.

Choke Bombs can deny burning and manipulate areas. Traps reshape movement through compounds. Decoys create misinformation. The Spyglass has gained additional utility as Hunt’s information systems have changed.

A new Tool therefore has the potential to affect much more than a loadout screen.

Crytek has deliberately avoided explaining what Chapter 2’s addition does in the trailer, leaving another mechanical reveal for the developer broadcast.

It follows the Burgess, the major new weapon introduced with Chapter 1. The foldable slide-action shotgun launched with multiple variants, including Bayonet and Trauma configurations, giving Blood Testament an immediately recognizable piece of new firepower.

Chapter 2 appears to be distributing its mechanical additions differently, with a Tool and Tarot Cards taking some of the spotlight.

Familiar faces are coming back — but Crytek is hiding the nightmare

Perhaps the most intentionally ominous line in the trailer promises “Familiar Faces... and New Nightmares.”

That wording could refer to Hunters, monsters, characters connected to Blood Testament’s story or some combination of all three. Crytek has not yet provided enough information to identify every figure being teased with confidence.

That restraint is important.

Blood Testament’s opening chapter demonstrated that Crytek is willing to let its story translate directly into gameplay. Warren Russett was not merely described in lore and then forgotten; his transformation became Bloodskin, an actual Boss Target unlocked by the community.

A promise of “new nightmares” therefore carries more weight than ordinary flavor text.

Whether Chapter 2 contains another creature, a transformed character, temporary encounter or something entirely different remains to be confirmed.

The trailer wants players asking that question.

October’s new DLC adds another paid layer

Alongside the free gameplay additions, Chapter 2 will introduce new DLC.

Crytek has not yet detailed the full contents within the Chapter 2 announcement, although the rose imagery accompanying the teaser provides an intentional visual hint.

As usual with Hunt, it is worth separating this premium material from the event’s broader gameplay changes.

Blood Testament itself and its mechanical evolution affect the wider player base, while cosmetic DLC operates as a separate paid addition. The same distinction applied during Chapter 1, which launched alongside new purchasable Hunters and skins without locking the central Blood Testament systems behind those packs.

That separation will matter again when Crytek reveals exactly what Chapter 2’s DLC contains.

Twitch Drops are returning

The update will also be accompanied by another Twitch Drops campaign.

Hunt has repeatedly used Drops to distribute cosmetics, Supply Crates, Charms, Hunters and other rewards while encouraging players to watch participating streams.

Crytek’s current Chapter 2 announcement confirms that Twitch Drops are coming back but does not yet provide the complete schedule or reward table.

Those details will likely determine how valuable the campaign is for long-term players, particularly because Hunt’s previous Drops have included fallback rewards when someone already owned a particular item.

The basic process traditionally requires players to link their Hunt and Twitch accounts and watch eligible Hunt: Showdown 1896 broadcasts with Drops enabled for the required amount of time.

More specific information for the October campaign remains pending.

The Blood Moon has already changed how the world feels

All of this arrives on top of an event that has already altered Hunt’s atmosphere considerably.

Blood Moon is more than a red visual filter.

Its two phases influence both visibility and AI behavior. Under an Intense Blood Moon, the crimson environment becomes brighter while monsters react more aggressively. When clouds cover the moon during the Dark phase, visibility decreases and AI returns to its normal behavior.

That constantly shifting state can alter the informational rhythm of a match.

A brightly illuminated landscape creates different long-range risks from a dark one, while more aggressive monsters can become an unexpected factor when Hunters are already fighting one another.

Blood Testament also introduced Blood Wells, which initially provided Siphon in exchange for health. Siphon allows a Hunter to steal a Scarce Trait from a dead opponent, creating another reason to interact with enemy bodies beyond ordinary looting.

Chupacabra took the event’s blood theme even further by allowing Hunters to recover a Health Chunk through animals.

The event therefore has not treated “blood” purely as an aesthetic theme. Many of its mechanics revolve around sacrificing health, stealing power or extracting life from other things.

Chapter 2 now needs to build on that identity rather than merely add another set of cosmetics.

Update 2.9 changed much more than the event

Blood Testament also arrived alongside significant systemic changes.

Update 2.9 altered weapons and ammunition, reworked several Traits, increased potential Hunter Slots from 75 to 100 and allowed Traits to be incorporated into Loadouts.

Information on the map also became less immediately available.

Extraction Points, Supply Points and Scout Towers are hidden by default, forcing players to reveal portions of that information through Clues, Scouting Maps or the Spyglass.

Crytek additionally introduced changes intended to improve matchmaking for new and returning players, including MMR Decay that temporarily reduces matchmaking pressure following a long absence.

The Fair Play Follow Up system added automatic Hunt Dollar compensation for players confirmed to have been killed by cheaters and notifications when reports result in action.

Those systems remain part of the foundation underneath Chapter 2.

As a result, October 6 is not a fresh event launch in the traditional sense. It is another layer being added onto a version of Hunt that already changed substantially in September.

Crytek will explain the missing pieces before launch

Many of the most interesting details are intentionally absent from the trailer.

Rather than publish every mechanic immediately, Crytek has scheduled a Blood Testament Chapter 2 Developer Livestream for October 1 at 6 PM CEST, where the team says it will discuss everything coming in the next chapter and what lies ahead in the wider story.

That broadcast should clarify the compound revisions, Tarot Cards, new Tool, Community Event structure, DLC, Twitch Drops and whatever Crytek means by its teasing references to returning faces and fresh nightmares.

The actual update follows on October 6.

That five-day gap gives players time to understand the mechanical changes before entering the revised maps.

Chapter 2 needs to prove Hunt’s evolving-event model can work

The larger question extends beyond the individual additions.

Blood Testament is effectively testing whether Hunt can sustain a long event by changing it meaningfully while it is still running.

Traditional events risk becoming predictable once players understand the reward track, new weapons and central gimmick. Even a strong opening week can eventually settle into routine when the same objectives remain active for months.

Crytek’s chapter structure is designed to counter that.

September established the blood serum, Blood Wells, Blood Moon, Chupacabra and Bloodskin. October is now bringing compound revisions, another collective objective, further narrative progression, new tactical options and additional rewards.

If the execution matches the roadmap, a player returning during Chapter 2 should encounter a noticeably different Blood Testament from the one that launched on September 8.

That is the real promise behind the new trailer.

The Blood Moon is already hanging over the bayou and the mountains. Bloodskin is already loose. Lynch’s experiment has already gone catastrophically wrong.

On October 6, Crytek begins showing what happens after everyone thought the worst had already arrived.