Always exploring new hunting grounds
Avalanche Studios Group is behind one of the most popular hunting games to date – theHunter: Call of the Wild. Since its release in 2017, Avalanche’s creative division Expansive Worlds has continuously improved the hunting experience through regular updates, community feedback, and content releases.
In theHunter: Call of the Wild draws nearly 1.5 million avid monthly players into a universe consisting of visually stunning landscapes and realistic hunting experiences, where they can embark on challenging hunts for both big and small prey - on their own or with friends in multiplayer.
Since its release in 2017, Expansive Worlds, a creative division within Avalanche Studios Group, has added numerous new features aimed at making gameplay more engrossing and lifelike. Both prior to development and today, player feedback is continually considered to help guide development of future enhancements and improvements.
In 2021, gamers around the world were thrilled by a content pack that introduced a new companion - The Bloodhound. Based on community feedback since then, Expansive Worlds recently launched another addition to their companions’ line-up – The Labrador Retriever.
Though incorporating a hunting dog might seem like a fairly straightforward addition for the talented developers at Expansive Worlds, it required considerable effort as authenticity along with specific characteristics were needed, so that the bond between the hunter and the dog could grow during the player’s hunting journey. Not to mention the dog’s tracking skills.
Fulfilling this aspiration required filming real dogs to capture their movements and behavior patterns. For instance, teaching the virtual Labradors how to swim involved rewriting code, so all animals would understand the concept of water – something that proved to be an extensive undertaking. To ensure the best possible gameplay experience, players with diverse backgrounds were asked to playtest and provide feedback during development.
Players from theHunter’s fan base also had the opportunity to interact with the team when Expansive World held a major live-launch event on Twitch and YouTube where the developers highlighted the new Labrador Retriever.
