Hunt: Showdown 1896 (2018) has had a remarkable year, with 2024 standing out as one of the most pivotal in its history. Following the ambitious 2.0 relaunch this summer, the six-year-old live service game experienced its fair share of highs and lows.

While persistent UI and technical issues dampened what was otherwise a well-received relaunch, Crytek continued to produce an impressive amount of new content for its flagship title. For Hunt's fourth and final event of the year, patch 2.2, the developers have delivered an update that lives up to its hype, both in scale and notoriety.

If you haven’t been extract camping at Scupper Lake for the past year, then you are probably aware that this event is a collaboration between Crytek and music megastar Post Malone, aptly dubbed Post Malone’s Murder Circus. The event features a colorful turn-of-the-century traveling circus, complete with fortune-telling machines, and creepy clowns, inspired by Post’s interesting style.

This collaboration marks only the second time that Crytek has partnered with an IP outside Hunt’s homegrown universe, the first being the inclusion of Ghostface as a Hunter DLC in October of 2024. Ghostface's inclusion in Hunt sparked debate within the community about what does and does not “fit” within the game's universe, with some fans lamenting that Hunt had entered its “Fortnite arc,” claiming that Crytek's original hardcore, gritty vision was gone forever.

The addition of Ghostface highlighted the risks of branding deals between video games and outside IPs. Cross-brand collaborations in gaming have a checkered history, often resulting in cringe-worthy partnerships that embarrass everyone involved. Difficulties most frequently occur when the celebrity’s enthusiasm for the game is oversold to the fan base.

While Keanu Reeves gave a stellar performance as Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077 (2020), CD Project Red compounded the game’s disastrous launch by insisting that Reeves loved playing the game, only for the star to come out later and deny the studio’s assertion. Will Smith’s endorsement of the zombie survival mobile game Undawn (2023) resulted in derision for him and the game’s developers. After the game’s release, it became apparent that he was only interested in a quick pay cheque, and his involvement was mostly due to his past films like I am Legend (2007). 

Celebrity collaborations with video games often leads to mixed results.

Gamers are notorious for being extremely sophisticated consumers and are more likely to react negatively to marketing campaigns that rely on fluff rather than concrete details about a game’s features and innovations. It follows then that Hunt fans would have questions about how genuine Post Malone’s involvement is and what this adds to their experience.

While most of the initial reception for the collaboration has been good, there are some that see Post as just another celebrity tourist looking for name recognition and promotional revenue. But, considering everything known about this collaboration, Post Malone’s Murder Circus may actually be more organic to Hunt than any previous event to date.

The details of how this partnership was finalized will probably never be revealed, but its genesis definitely began months ago on Hunt’s servers. Early in 2024, Post was spotted playing Hunt with Khalamity, a Crytek Partner and Twitch streamer who has been playing the game since early access.

In a summary video[1] posted to Khalamity’s YouTube channel, he and Post play several matches together, with Khalamity lending his experience as Post learns the game. During the session, the duo secured several victories, with a few key clutch moments from Khalamity and some juicy headshots from Post himself. They would play again a few more times in the following weeks.

While playing with a Twitch streamer is not evidence in itself of an authentic affection for the game, Post’s stated passion for Hunt is supported by the amount of time he has accumulated. In a recent interview with Hunt’s Game Director, Scott Lussier,[2] Post states he was introduced to the game by his friend and revealed that he has over 400 hours in Hunt. Given the intensity of his touring schedule and other demands, 400 hours is a massive amount of time.

Throughout the rest of the interview, Post adlibs responses to questions about the game, displaying an intimate knowledge of its mechanics that could only come from lived experience. When questioned about his skill level, Post states that he has never achieved a six-star ranking and then wisely dismisses K/D as a reliable statistic for assessing skill in Hunt. Post explains, “There’s two ways to play. You either play the game, or you can sit in a bush and have a high K/D.”

The most undeniably relatable moment of the interview came when Scott asked, “What is the worst way to lose a hunter?” and Post quipped back without hesitation, “Disconnecting.”

Crytek also released a video[3] of Post reacting to the contents of the battle pass for the Murder Circus event. Putting aside the incentives for Crytek to frame his reactions in the most positive way possible, Post’s feedback in this video is not a result of creative editing. His reactions display genuine wonder, the same that any gamer would display when seeing cool stuff in a video game they love, especially when it is inspired in their honor. The look on Post’s face is more akin to a kid opening a Super Nintendo on Christmas morning, than it is a celebrity cynically playing it up for the cameras.

Post’s passion for Hunt isn’t surprising, given that he is a well-known gamer with myriad interests. He is a huge fan of Magic: the Gathering and in 2023, purchased the ‘One Ring’ card from Magic’s Lord of the Rings set for a reported $2 Million.[4] He also has his own series of cards in MTG itself.[5] Post even credits gaming for influencing his music career. In a 2017 Rolling Stone interview, Post stated that he was inspired to play guitar because of the video game Guitar Hero (2005).[6]

Gamers are right to call out collaborations that are nothing more than paper-thin attempts to capitalize on brands whose connections are tenuous at best and exploitative at worst. However, in the case of Post Malone and Hunt, anyone accusing him of being a tourist clearly has not been paying attention.

As an event, Post Malone’s Murder Circus works to a surprising degree in terms of style and theme. Post, a fan of tattoos and body modification, visually belongs more in Hunt’s 19th-century zombie apocalypse than here in the 21st Century. His music, which swings from light and hopeful to gritty and dark, has enough range that it does not feel too out of place in Hunt’s aesthetic. (Maybe there’s a Hunt-inspired song coming in the future, who knows.)

The choice of casting Post as the ringmaster of a circus is fitting, given his performance career. It also provides Crytek the opportunity to explore the themes of traveling circuses, which were a popular form of entertainment in rural areas of the U.S. during the era. The theme works so well that if Post’s name was taken off the event there are probably very few players who would think something was out of place.

Overall, Post Malone’s Murder Circus isn’t the typical Video Game/Insert Celibrity Name Here collaboration that gamers are so used to seeing. Like in his music career, Post possesses a unique talent to fit a variety of genres while still maintaining his authenticity. His love of the game itself, coupled with just how easily he fits into Hunt’s universe, makes this event less a collaboration than it is a homecoming, one that the community can fully embrace without feeling pandered to.

Post Malone’s Murder Circus is a fun event that originated from the most Hunt place it could, a fellow hunter, who just happens to be Post Malone. Patch 2.2 is available now, and the event runs until February 10th, 2025. See you on the other side.

References:

[1] Khalamity, Apr 22, 2024, I was carried by Post Malone in Hunt: Showdown, https://youtu.be/kxr88ueBvGE?si=qx_uhmxIJ3ZT7-2M

[2] Hunt: Showdown, 20 Nov 2024, Q&A with Post Malone, https://youtu.be/CywILj8E8rM?si=nrJvFL9dhrCApihX

[3] Hunt: Showdown, 9 Dec 2024, Post Malone Reacts to Battle Pass, https://youtu.be/C8QtvOcVey8?si=yi8lbykZpc512YC9

[4] Kain, Erik, 3 Aug 2023, Post Malone Just Bought The Most Expensive ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Card Of All Time, https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/08/03/post-malone-bought-the-one-ring-magic-the-gathering-card-for-a-cool-2-million/

[5] Wizards of the Coast, Accessed 22 Dec 2024, Secret Lair x Post Malone: Backstage Pass, https://secretlair.wizards.com/us/en/product/772015/secret-lair-x-post-malone-backstage-pass

[6] Weiner, Jonah, 17 Nov 2024, Post Malone: Confessions of a Hip-Hop Rock Star, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/post-malone-confessions-of-a-hip-hop-rock-star-116218/