- Missive XIII - Extraction + Development Update - 4 September 2026
Hello Living,Today we want to talk about Extraction - how you get out of an Expedition, how extraction balloons appear in the world, and some of the systems we've built to make leaving the map a meaningful part of the experience rather than simply reaching an exit and disappearing.We've also made several changes to extraction following Tech Test 3, particularly around how the extraction timer behaves and how we discourage extraction camping. These changes came directly from useful feedback during the test and are intended to make both systems clearer and less ambiguous.How Extraction WorksWhen you enter an active Extraction Zone, a 30-second timer begins. Once that timer has completed, you become eligible to extract, but extraction does not happen automatically. You still need to reach the balloon itself and interact with it to leave the Expedition.For a solo player, this means entering…
- Missive XII - The Expedition Map + Development Update - 7 August 2026
Hello, Living.Beyond the relative safety of the Chateau, the world still turns - albeit just barely. Through Reynauld’s map, you may step beyond its walls and take part in an Expedition: a journey into the mainland’s scattered ruins in search of what the old world left behind.Choosing Your Next JourneyThe Expedition Map is your gateway to the world beyond the Château.Through Reynauld's map, you will choose where your next journey begins, gather your party, and set out into the mainland in search of equipment, resources, and whatever else still survives beyond the walls.Whether you venture alone or alongside one or two companions, every Expedition begins here.Setting OutOnly the party leader can choose an Expedition and commit the group to a destination. Once selected, matchmaking begins quietly in the background, allowing everyone to continue preparing while Reynauld searches for a suit…
- Missive XI - Vendors + Tech Test 3 Summary - 10 July 2026
Tech Test 3 Summary Hello, Living. First, thank you to everyone who joined us during the Technical Test, and to everyone who has already signed up for the Open Beta. The response has been incredibly valuable. If you haven't already, please consider wishlisting Hunger on Steam. It makes a genuine difference to the project and helps us continue building the community ahead of Early Access.As we've said throughout the test, this Technical Test was first and foremost about infrastructure. Our primary objective was to stress our backend systems, matchmaking, servers and overall stability under real player load. Thanks to your participation, we've been able to identify, reproduce and resolve a large number of critical issues, and we've come away with a much clearer understanding of where our remaining work lies.The next major phase of development is balance.Like any multiplayer game, balance…
- Tech Test 3 - Last Chance - 24 HR Server Stress Test - 7 July 2026
Hello Living, Tech Test 3 will end Wednesday 8th of July, 10am BST. As it comes to a close, we want to thank everyone who took part, shared feedback, reported issues, and spent time exploring the World After the End with us. We are sending out the last invite wave for all the late applications and exhaust our available key allocation for this test. If you have not jumped into the playtest yet, this is your last chance to do so! For those who missed out, we have opened up 'Open Beta invites'. Simply click ‘Request Access’ on 'Join the Hunger Playtest, in the HUNGER STEAM STORE page. We will notify via our social channels when the Open Beta goes live later this year. Over the course of the test, we were able to deploy several hotfixes addressing critical issues affecting stability, matchmaking, and the overall player experience. While issues still remain, we are encouraged by the increasi…
- HUNGER Tech Test 3 - 29th June - Patch Notes - 25 June 2026
Before diving into the changelog, we’d like to thank everyone for their patience.We know Tech Test #3 has been a long time coming. The reality is that much of our work since Tech Test #2 has been focused on infrastructure, matchmaking, backend systems, anti-cheat, optimisation, and the countless technical foundations that are essential for a game like Hunger. These are not always the most visible improvements, but they are among the most important.As with our previous technical tests, participant numbers and distribution throughout Tech Test #3 are being guided by the specific systems we are evaluating. Factors such as regional coverage, matchmaking behaviour, server performance, latency, and overall platform stability all influence how the test is structured. The purpose of Tech Test #3 is to gather the data necessary to validate and improve these systems under real-world conditions, e…
- Missive X - The Stash + Development Update - 5 June 2026
Hello, Living.Beyond the blood and mud of the Expeditions, there must be a place where what you’ve earned can rest - a place untouched by chaos. In Hunger, that sanctuary is your Stash.The Heart of the ChateauThe Stash is your stronghold of security within the Chateau, accessible by speaking to Louis in the Outer Ramparts. It functions as the primary point of storage, loadout preparation, and post-Expedition resource consolidation. All items and currency you wish to protect are stored here, away from the dangers beyond the walls. Each character you unlock maintains their own unique Stash. When you return from an Expedition, your funds are automatically transferred to your Stash - safely stored within its dedicated currency slot. From here, you can deposit or withdraw items as you prepare for your Expedition.Expanding Your HoldingsLouis, your young and eager Stashkeeper, provides a modes…
- Missive IX - Traps - 3 April 2026
Hello, Living.Not every threat in Hunger comes from what you can see. Some are waiting - buried beneath leaves, coiled behind a doorway, or sitting in silence just long enough to make you question the ground you walk on.This Missive explores the two kinds of traps that shape life - and death - in the World After the End. Map TrapsMap Traps are part of the world itself, built directly into the environments you explore. They exist as part of the level design, placed within ruins, beneath bridges, or hidden in the darker corners of the battlefield.These traps act as environmental hazards. Some explode. Some release poison. Others leave you bleeding as you scramble to escape their reach. They are designed to threaten the Living, but can also be used in creative ways by the Living against the Hunger.Certain points of interest and many dungeons may contain unique trap types or more complex ar…
- Missive VIII - Quests - 26 March 2026
Hello, Living. Development UpdateDevelopment on the game is continuing apace. Since the last tech test, the primary focus has been the full implementation of our backend scaling architecture. This work has involved making sure all core services communicate correctly across the stack so the game can scale cleanly.We have also implemented our anti-cheat solution, alongside a large amount of optimization work across the client and server. In addition, players will now have the option to use SSGI instead of Lumen, giving more flexibility for performance and visual configuration depending on hardware.Alongside backend and technical work, we have continued polishing all existing gameplay systems and content that appeared in the previous test. This includes ongoing balance passes, systems tweaks, UI refinement, performance improvements, and the addition of more atmospheric detail across all ma…
- Missive VII - Stamina and Energy - 4 March 2026
Hello, Living.In Hunger, most close quarters melee vs melee fights are not lost because of numbers alone. They are lost because of resource mismanagement. Players overextend, panic, or commit too early, and arrive at the critical moment without the capacity to respond or defend.Two underlying systems govern this outcome: Stamina and Energy. They serve different purposes, recover under different conditions, and are designed to create meaningful trade-offs between movement, aggression, and defence. Understanding how they interact is fundamental to surviving close combat.We began the process of building Hunger’s melee combat by starting simple, as crucially the presence of firearms in the game drastically alters the way we can make melee viable. We didn’t want to just look at melee-only FPS slasher games and spend lots of time building something similar, only to discover that it was irrele…
- Missive VI - Food and Drink - 16 January 2026
Hello, Living.In Hunger, food and drink are not punitive upkeep systems that require constant maintenance. They are deliberate, opt-in tools that reward planning rather than attention.Food provides long-lasting bonuses that support your underlying playstyle. These effects persist over time and improve core actions such as loot identification speed, Stamina regeneration, or other sustained advantages. Food is about preparation and efficiency.Drink, by contrast, delivers short-term performance boosts. These effects are more powerful but expire quickly, making them best suited to combat, escapes, or moments where time pressure is high. Used correctly, a Drink can decisively change the outcome of an encounter.Understanding when to rely on Food and when to deploy Drink is a key survival skill. Proper use can mean the difference between extracting successfully and losing everything. The Role…
- Missive V - Looting - 25 November 2025
Hello, Living.When you first step into the World After The End, it can feel vast - complex, even overwhelming. Every ruin seems to hide a secret, every settlement a story. But as you begin to explore, you’ll find that the world slowly starts to make sense. Patterns emerge. Familiarity grows.And the first step to understanding Hunger is learning how to take what the world gives you - and sometimes, what it doesn’t want you to have.The Art of LootingLooting is your first true dialogue with the world. When you enter one of Hunger’s regions, you’ll find that what you discover often reflects where you are. A logging camp might yield tools, timber, or food. A barracks could offer weapons, armour, or ammunition. As you explore, you’ll encounter containers of all kinds - crates, chests, cupboards, and barrels - each containing items suited to its environment. Larger containers have a higher cha…
- Missive IV - The Pricker - 18 November 2025
Hello, Living.Ah, so you have found yourself in a spot of bother - no weapons in your inventory, nothing left in your Stash, and little coin to your name. The world after the End is not kind to the unarmed.Fortunately for you, young Louis may have something to assist. When you find yourself without a weapon, speak with him in the Outer Ramparts and explain your plight. He is not without sympathy, and he will see that you are not sent into the wild empty-handed.The Nature of the PrickerThe Pricker is a humble tool - a simple, makeshift blade given to those who have lost everything. It is not elegant, nor is it powerful, but it will cut when it needs to.It exists as a mercy for the desperate and a reminder for the wise: in Hunger, every choice has weight, and every mistake has a cost. The Pricker ensures that even at your lowest, you still have a chance to fight, to flee, and to survive o…
- Missive III - Armour - 4 November 2025
Hello, Living.Of all the details revealed in our last trailer, few drew as much attention as the armour - and the tools used to maintain it. We wanted to take you deeper into one of Hunger’s most defining systems: how protection, repair, and survival truly function in the World After The End. The Role of Armour in HungerArmour plays a crucial part in survival. Your chest armour carries its own durability, functioning as a secondary layer of health that absorbs incoming damage. Other pieces, such as helmets and greaves, act as damage modifiers, providing protection but without their own durability to restore.Our goal is to ensure armour feels impactful and worthwhile without creating an unbridgeable skill gap. A less experienced armoured player should not automatically defeat a highly skilled unarmoured opponent. Armour should provide a clear benefit, yet remain surmountable through abil…
- Missive II - Cosmetic Schemas - 23 October 2025
What Are CosmeticsCosmetics are ways of permanently altering the appearance of your character, their weapons, and their carried equipment. Each can be applied to distinct categories - such as character outfits, weapons, and bags (including hip bags, back bags, and weapon bags).Cosmetic CategoriesWeapon CosmeticsIn time, additional item types will receive cosmetic support - to be revealed in later updates. At present, Hunger includes more than 70 distinct cosmetics. They are built to reflect the materials, wear, and strangeness of the World After the End.All cosmetics in Hunger are permanent. Once crafted, they are bound to your account forever and will never be wiped. They can also be applied at will. Once applied, it will stay until you either remove it or apply a new one.We will continue to expand the cosmetic library after release, adding new cosmetics that both enrich the look of yo…
- Missive I - Health - 14 October 2025
Hello, Living.This marks the beginning of our Missives - a series of focused insights into the design of Hunger and its systems. We’ll be releasing new Missives regularly, helping to better acquaint you with the World After The End.Every wound tells a story. In Hunger, survival is measured not by what you avoid, but by how well you recover. Today’s Missive looks at the systems that govern health, healing, and the fragile space between life and death.The Nature of HealthYour health represents the Living body’s final measure of endurance. It is the last line of defence beneath your armour, and when it fails, there is no recovery.Every player begins with a default of 100 health - a finite resource that can only be restored through medical intervention. Damage is taken through combat, environment, or status effects.To recover health, players rely on Medicine - specialised items that repair…
- LORE: Prologue II: Marie - 15 May 2025
- LORE: Prologue I: Gabriel - 29 April 2025
