Is Way of the Hunter 2 worth buying at launch? Two patch rounds in, 73% positive, $39.99. Who should buy and who should wait.
Is Way of the Hunter 2 Worth It? An Honest Launch Verdict
Yes for most people, and the deciding factor is not the price. Way of the Hunter 2 launched September 29, 2026, and five days in holds 1,782 Steam reviews at 73% positive — a number hiding a split the store page makes obvious: the recent band is Mixed. Buy at launch if you care about the ecology simulation, animal behaviour and the Africa map. Wait if you care about content volume: eight of the DLCs a Season Pass would sell you are still unannounced.
Everything below was checked against the Steam API, the store page and the developer's FAQ on 2026-10-03, at version 1.1.
The verdict by reader type
| If you are… | Buy now? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Simulation-first, reads patch notes | Yes | 28 species, 3 maps, dynamic tracks. Two shipped builds in five days, both fixing real complaints |
| Counting hours and guns | Wait | The $34.99 Season Pass covers 8 first-year DLCs the developer has not revealed |
| A lapsed Way of the Hunter player | Yes, sample game 1 first | The original is $7.49, and owners get the Night Hunting Pack free plus 13% off |
| A Call of the Wild player | Read the comparison first | Different design, not an upgrade |
| Buying on Steam Deck | No | Not officially supported and not optimized |
What 1,782 reviews at 73% positive actually hides
| Metric at 2026-10-03 | Value |
|---|---|
| All-time reviews | 1,782 (1,304 positive / 478 negative) |
| Positive rate | 73.2% |
| All-time band | Mostly Positive |
| Recent band | Mixed, 258 reviews |
| Metascore | tbd — needs 4 critic reviews |
| Only critic review | Gaming Boulevard, 55, 100% Mixed |
| Predecessors | Way of the Hunter 65 · Call of the Wild 64 |
Those two bands are different populations, not one shifting opinion. Early Access ran March 26 to September 29, so most of the 1,782-review pool was written by people who had lived with the game for months; the 258-review band is almost entirely day-one buyers of version 1.0. A 73% lifetime score from veterans next to a Mixed score from launch customers is not a contradiction to average away — it is a game that improved for the people reporting problems, then lost its newest audience on day one.
The critic side is thinner. Metacritic lists one review, scored 55. Published October 1 on an Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme, it argued the problem was never the hunting but "getting to the hunting": too much walking between interactions, quest markers hard to read over long distances, and animals that spook easily enough that one approach costs twenty to thirty minutes. Its conclusion is the launch press's most useful line: the bones are better than the meat around them.
Media source: Review: Way of the Hunter 2 — GamingBoulevard, October 1, 2026
What the two shipped builds actually fixed
Version 1.0 was the launch build on September 29 (Version 212045). Version 1.1 landed October 1 (Version 212672) — two days later, with the developer promising an increased patch frequency "in the first weeks after release."
| Area | 1.0 (Sep 29) | 1.1 (Oct 1) |
|---|---|---|
| New feature | Pet the dog; high-contrast track style in Hunter Assist | Long-Term Weather Forecast — pick conditions per reserve, effective after 48 in-game hours |
| Controls | — | Inverted look settings, left-stick menu navigation, deadzone raised to 12 |
| Blocking bugs | Ammo slot locked after clearing a type to 0 bullets; wildebeest clipping vehicles; empty-backpack co-op joins | 4 ammo types showing wrong values; clip-ons unequippable via radial menu; vehicle jitter on rejoin |
| Save / progress | Autosave every 60 seconds; co-op-crafted specimens usable single-player | Story markers wrong after the Damian and Malachi arcs |
| Quests / UI | Objective markers restored on "Angel on a Shoulder" and "Knives Out"; "Super Pigs" completing at 100 yards, not 100 m | — |
| World | — | Stretching bushes outside the Hub lodge |
Two details decide how much this matters. The weather forecast is the headline 1.1 feature and it is not instant — the FAQ flags the 48-in-game-hour delay and keeps snowfall settings separate from animal ageing. And the marker fixes are narrower than the review's complaint: 1.0 restored objective markers on two named missions and 1.1 fixed post-story markers for two characters, while neither build's notes list any change to how easily animals spook.
Official source: Way of the Hunter 2: FAQ
The launch announcement links "[Patch notes link]" and "[Known issues link]" as literal placeholders, so "is this fixed yet" means reading notes or filing through THQ Nordic's Redmine tracker. See our known issues page.
What $39.99 buys, and what it does not
Prices verified on Steam 2026-10-03; breakdown in the price guide.
| Product | Price (US) | What is in it |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Edition | $39.99 | Base game. No active Steam discount |
| Deluxe Edition | $59.99 | Base + Season Pass + Heirloom Pack + 24h early access |
| Season One Season Pass | $34.99 | 8 DLCs across the first year — contents not revealed |
| Heirloom Pack | $4.99 | Engraved .243 Win rifle, matching scope, modern .270 Win rifle, bronze elk statue |
| Night Hunting Pack | $4.99 | Free to owners of the original, on all three platforms |
| Lodge Decoration | $1.99 | Lodge display statues |
Deluxe is the weaker launch buy, for arithmetic reasons. You pay $20 over Standard for a Season Pass whose eight DLCs the developer says it is "not revealing … just yet," with the order "still being finalized." Today it grants three statues — a deer in New Laurentia, a dog and an ibex at Hearth & Hunt, a kudu in Kilimaya — and the FAQ states most of its content "hasn't been released yet." The bronze elk statue is Heirloom Pack, not Season Pass. More on the Season Pass page.
The counter-argument: the FAQ commits to "free updates and premium DLC content," states no microtransactions are planned, and says "We plan to support the game for years to come," with two more maps in the first post-launch year. That is a real support promise, but not one you can size.
The cheapest way in if you are only testing the waters
The 2022 original, Way of the Hunter, is $7.49 on Steam, down 75% from $29.99 — one-fifth of the sequel, and the cheapest way to learn whether the slow tracking loop appeals to you. If it does, owning it unlocks the Night Hunting Pack free plus 13% off either edition: $34.79 Standard, $52.19 Deluxe.
If you already want the ecology systems, the two 100 km² reserves, the dog and suppressors, skip the sampler — see maps and reserves.
The limits worth knowing before you pay
None of these are bugs. All are developer positions at 1.0.
| Limit | Official position at 1.0 |
|---|---|
| Crossplay | Not in version 1.0. Under review, no promise — our crossplay answer |
| Co-op size | 2 players, free-play only. Single-player and multiplayer worlds and animal populations are separate; sessions do not sync — see multiplayer |
| Steam Deck | Runs, but "not officially planned to be supported" and "not optimized" |
| System specs | Steam page says DirectX 12 / 38 GB; the FAQ says DirectX 11 / 30 GB — both on our requirements page |
| Physical copies | Planned for PC and consoles, in production, no date |
| Mods | Not supported and not planned |
FAQ
Is Way of the Hunter 2 worth buying at launch? For most players, yes: $39.99 for 28 species, 3 maps and a simulation layer few hunting games attempt, with a feature-additive patch two days after launch. Hold off if content volume drives your purchases, because the Season Pass is sold ahead of eight unrevealed DLCs.
Will the mixed recent reviews put me off? Read them as a day-one snapshot. The 258-review Mixed band covers the first days of version 1.0; the 73% lifetime pool accumulated largely during six months of Early Access.
Should I buy the Deluxe Edition? Not yet. The $20 upgrade is mostly a Season Pass with unannounced contents. Buy it if you are certain you will take all eight DLCs anyway.
Is it cheaper to buy the first game first? Possibly — it costs $7.49 to find out, and ownership adds the Night Hunting Pack free plus 13% off either edition.
Is Way of the Hunter 2 better than theHunter: Call of the Wild? Different, not better — see the full comparison.
Should I wait for a sale? Steam carried no discount on 2026-10-03 and none has been announced. Late-cycle pricing on the original is the better guide.
Related
More Way of the Hunter 2 Guides
Kilimaya Reserve in Way of the Hunter 2: the 100 km2 Africa map, its 13 species, which predators can charge you, and how to hunt hippo and buffalo safely.
Way of the Hunter 2 known issues after launch: the demo config fix for broken resolution settings, plus how to report a bug.
All 3 Way of the Hunter 2 maps with exact sizes: New Laurentia and Kilimaya at 100 km2 each, Hearth & Hunt at 16 km2. What each holds.
How to play co-op in Way of the Hunter 2: how to invite a friend, open a lobby, join a session, and the 2-player limit that trips people up at launch.
New Laurentia in Way of the Hunter 2: the 100 km2 North America map, its 15 species, elk and moose behaviour, need zones, tracks and hunting pressure.
Way of the Hunter 2 update 1.1 summary: weather forecast, inverted look, controller deadzone fixes, what is still broken, and how to report bugs.
Way of the Hunter 2 costs $39.99 or $59.99 deluxe. What the 8-DLC Season Pass adds, what Heirloom Pack includes, and how game 1 owners save.
Way of the Hunter 2 Season Pass: 8 DLCs in year one, $34.99, release window, what is inside right now, and the three statues that prove it worked.