Salzwiesen Park, German Pointer, and more – New Content Out Now!

Hello everyone!

Enjoy a compact hunting experience in Salzwiesen Park, find and flush waterfowl with the German Shorthaired Pointer, and take your shooting skills to new levels with the Hunters’ Choice: Bolt-Action Rifle Pack – available now on all platforms! 

Buy here:

• Salzwiesen Park | Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games Store
• German Shorthaired Pointer | Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games Store
• Hunters’ Choice: Bolt-Action Rifle Pack | Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games Store

Save 11% on all three DLCs with Winter Hunting Bundle. (Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games Store)

Also available today is the free Winter Update, introducing all-new Hunter Challenges, two new Great Ones, and much more! 

Salzwiesen Park

Explore the salt marsh habitat and hunt a wide range of waterfowl and small game. Plus, sharpen your shooting skills solo or compete against friends at the Clay Shooting Range–our new gameplay feature–unique to Salzwiesen Park.

Salzwiesen Park is home to 15 different animal species, including 2 brand-new waterfowl.

• Greylag Goose
• Tundra Bean Goose
• Ring-Necked Pheasant
• Black Grouse
• European Rabbit
• Common Raccoon
• Raccoon Dog
• Red Fox
• Goldeneye
• Eurasian Teal
• Mallard
• Eurasian Wigeon
• Tufted Duck
• Gadwall ← New 
• Ferruginous Duck ← New

We also have not forgotten about a new Caller for the Gadwall and new decoys for the Gadwall and Ferruginous duck. This DLC also includes the versatile new GOPI 10 GRAND shotgun that shares all 3 types of ammo with the Strandberg 10SA.

• 10 GA Plastic Birdshot Class 1-2 
• 10 GA Plastic Buckshot Class 4-7
• 10 GA Plastic Slug Class 6-9

German Shorthaired Pointer

Meet your newest hunting companion! Designed to point you in the right direction of your desired prey, it will–on your command–leap and bound its way towards all but the largest of predators, making them much easier to target. 

Owners of multiple dog breeds can also look forward to the new ‘Expert Dog’ feature which arrives for free with the Winter Update. This new feature will allow you to customize your own expert hunting dog by enhancing one dog with the skills of two. For example, by combining the skills of a Pointer and a Retriever, you can train your dog to skillfully flush out birds and efficiently retrieve them after you’ve taken your shot. Pretty neat! This lovely companion will arrive in 6 different fur color variations.

Hunters’ Choice: Bolt-Action Rifle Pack

Brought to life by you, our incredible community, this new pack includes three bolt-action rifles suited for engaging a variety of different-sized species. 

• Vallgarda .375 – It uses .375 Polymer-Tip or Soft-Point rounds, for Classes 7-9, and mounts standard rifle scopes.

• Johansson .450 – It uses .450 Polymer-Tip and Soft-Point rounds, for Classes 4-7, and mounts standard rifle scopes.

• Fors Elite .300 – It uses 7.62x35mm Polymer-Tip and Soft-Point rounds, for Classes 3-6, mounts standard rifle scopes.

Winter Update

New Content

• 5 New Multi Mounts for the Trophy Lodge.
  • Partners in Crime: Created by 2 Red Foxes.
  • Flying Pheast: Created with a Red Fox and a Ring-Necked Pheasant.
  • Landlubber Lineup: Created from a Black Grouse, Ring-necked Pheasant, Graylag Goose, and a Tundra Bean Goose.
  • The Three Ducketeers: Created with a Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall, and a Ferruginous Duck.
  • Duck out: Requires all 7 ducks: Eurasian Teal, Eurasian Wigeon, Ferruginous Duck, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Mallard, and a Tufted Duck.
• Hunt Club Beta has been upgraded to Challenges
  • Players can now select Daily and Weekly challenges to pursue from a selection of various options.
  • The options will include both hunting and photography challenges.
• Two new Great Ones have entered the wilderness.
  • Red Fox – 9 variations.
  • Ring-necked Pheasant –  8 variations.

Improvements

ANIMALS

• Red Foxes received a few improvements in this patch. Their animations were completely overhauled, and behaviors got slightly adjusted (their populations in the existing reserves have been reset).
• European Rabbits have been remastered (their populations in the existing reserves have been reset).
• Cinnamon Teals have been remastered.
• Flight and landing characteristics for birds have been updated for a more realistic hunting experience.
• Birds should more consistently land near decoys now.
• Waterfowl should have more realistic reactions to different situations.
• Upland Birds should more consistently try to hide, and birds flushing should now have a chance to flee in any direction.
• The Grounded Check on Upland Birds should be more accurate when the birds are close to the ground or landing, but not yet on the ground.
• Black Grouse, Tufted Duck, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Cinnamon Teal, and Red Fox audio have been improved.
• We’ve added minor improvements to animations and X-ray models for multiple older species.
• Furs on Axis Deer, Blackbucks, Fallow Deer, and Reindeer got improved.

DOG

• The Dog’s Command Wheel has been completely redone with nested menus that allow for the Pointer and Expert Hunting Dog commands to be fully integrated into the UI.
• We’ve improved the Dog’s animations so it looks more at their owner.
• We’ve upgraded the Dog status UI to pulse when the Dog’s status changes if the player hasn’t given a command.
• It is now easier to see the Dog’s outline when it’s hidden behind various obstacles.

UI

• When accessing the storage menu, the following changes have been made to improve navigation.
  • Only the weapons category will be open by default.
  • Only one category of items (e.g. weapons, sights, etc.) can be opened at a time.
  • Opening a category will close any other open categories.
• A new tooltip feature has been added for hunting pressure. Now, when you hover your cursor over the hunting pressure area on the map, a tooltip will appear showing the current level of hunting pressure, and explaining the effects. 

Bug Fixes

GAMEPLAY

• We’ve fixed an issue with birdshot rounds only showing a single trajectory trace on the X-ray screen.
• An issue where players would make less noise if they started aiming while sprinting than they would aiming while walking got fixed.

EQUIPMENT

• The default reticle on the Goshawk Redeye 2-4×20 Handgun Scope has been reverted to the original one.
• The sight picture with the Ascent 1-4X24 Scope on the F.L. Sporter rifle has been adjusted to be more similar to other rifles with that scope.
• We’ve improved various shotgun animations.
• An issue where several scope preview images were flipped horizontally in the storage menu was addressed.
• We’ve fixed an issue that could cause Picatinny rails to show up on weapons when they weren’t supposed to.
• We’ve fixed an issue that could cause duck callers not to work under certain conditions.

ANIMALS

• The Need Zone markers on the map will now persist even after one of the animals linked to the Need Zone is killed, as long as there are still other known living animals associated with that same Need Zone.
• Aggressive animals should no longer get stuck while attacking nearby players.
• Waterfowl should be a bit less vocal while flying.
• Animals should not get stuck next to rivers as often – this was pretty common in Cuatro Colinas.
• The neck of the Puma no longer shrinks when performing the “smelling” animation.
• An issue where Grey Wolves would react oddly when shot while drinking was fixed.
• We’ve fixed some issues with the female Nilgai.
• Resolved a problem where animals could get trapped if they couldn’t find a path to escape while fleeing.
• Some visual issues with the wings on Greylag Geese were fixed.
• Killing Waterfowl creates significantly less hunting pressure than before.
• We’ve fixed a model issue with the male Banteng.
• An issue where the Tiger’s face didn’t consistently show the correct wrinkle textures was fixed.
• Certain animals will no longer move incorrectly when standing up after being spooked.

DOG

• An issue where a Retriever Dog could not find harvests that were shot after it was sent to retrieve them was fixed.
• Dogs should finally appear on their beds in the Layton Lake Trophy Cabin on PlayStation.
• Petting your Dog in Trophy Lodges should look a bit better.
• We’ve fixed an issue where Retrieving cost more Focus than intended.
• Dogs will no longer spawn too far away from tower outposts in Emerald Coast Australia.
• We’ve fixed an issue where Dogs would not follow the player when they used a boat.
• Resolved several animation problems observed when a player was seen interacting with their Dog in Multiplayer.
• An issue where the Dog’s status bar would flicker while using binoculars was addressed.
• Jackrabbits should now look more accurate when being carried by the Retriever.
• The Dog will now be more attentive when predators are nearby, even if told to lay down.
• Dogs will no longer pant excessively after retrieving a harvest.
• Resolved a problem where the Dog command wheel would become unresponsive after switching hunting reserves if the player was located in an outpost when leaving the previous reserve.
• Dogs will now have fewer problems with navigating around rocks on newer reserves.
• The Dog will now show appropriate reverence for the Ban Gufa landmark on Sundarpatan, and wait patiently for the player outside the cave.
• We’ve fixed an issue with the animations for the female Bloodhound.

MISSIONS

• We’ve fixed an issue where there was no audio associated with cleaning up trash during the “Beauty of Nature” mission on Emerald Coast Australia.
• The animal in the last mission on Cuatro Colinas will no longer become unresponsive to the player.

SYSTEM

• The EGS version of the game will no longer get stuck on a black screen while being run from outside the EGS launcher.
• Resolved a problem where discovering numerous Need Zones on a map could result in a significant drop in FPS.

MULTIPLAYER

• We’ve fixed an issue with animation synchronization for animals in Multiplayer.
• Changed numerous connection error messages to be more accurate.
• We’ve addressed an issue that could occasionally cause the game to freeze during a host migration.

WORLD

• We’ve fixed some miscellaneous item placement issues in Sundarpatan Nepal and Emerald Coast Australia.
• Resolved a problem in the generation of navigation paths where movable objects were creating unnecessary obstacles.
• We’ve fixed a floating trash bin on Mississippi Acres Reserve and added some additional item placement improvements.
• An issue that could cause the player to be teleported to an unsafe location after running into the water from a particular dock on Revontuli Coast was fixed.

UI

• Players who unlink their APEX Connect accounts should be prompted to restore them again when relaunching the game in the next 24 hours.
• We’ve fixed an issue with eye reflections not showing up on the harvest screen.
• Resolved a problem where the main menu options for Multiplayer and the DLC Store wouldn’t update accurately following a change in network connection status.
• We’ve fixed some landmark titles in the codex that were inconsistently capitalized.

Happy hunting! 

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