Hunt: Showdown is going offline for 48 hours to prepare for its biggest update ever

Hunt: Showdown is undergoing a major change next week as it transitions into Hunt: Showdown 1896, featuring an upgraded engine, overhauled UI, big changes to the meta, and an all-new map—the first in three years. That's the good news. The bad news is that a big update means some big downtime, and Hunt: Showdown will be unavailable for two solid days beginning tomorrow.

"This is it, Hunters," developer Crytek tweeted. "We are mere days from the launch of Hunt: Showdown 1896, and as noted in July, Hunt: Showdown servers are going dark for 48 hours starting Tuesday, August 13th from 7pm CEST (1 pm ET).

"This means the game will be unavailable on any platform as we ready Mammon's Gulch for your much anticipated arrival. Thank you for your understanding, patience and support as we enter into a whole new era of Hunt together on 15th August."

That's a long downtime, but as a relentless optimist I'm going to assume Crytek is playing it safe: The actual upgrade may be a 20-minute job but developers are building in a big buffer so players won't get mad about any possible side trips to the goat rodeo. (The actual upgrade will probably take a lot longer than 20 minutes, but you know what I'm saying.)

Despite having to go so long without their favorite game, Hunt: Showdown players seem happy to wait. Responses on Twitter and Reddit are far more excited for 1896 than they are put off by the extended downtime, and there's at least one very nice conversation about what people are going to play while they wait, in case you're looking for some ideas on how to pass the time.