Dauntless, a free-to-play brawler about hunting giant monsters from Phoenix Labs, has shed its Early Access designation on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One thanks to the launch of the game’s new 1.0 Update:
Dauntless 1.0 is a new beginning for the Behemoth-hunting game, delivering an expansive live gameplay experience that takes into account years of feedback from the game’s passionate community. Dauntless will continue to grow and expand with new content and features, keeping Slayers sharp and entertained with new weapons, Behemoths, in-game events, stories and much more for years to come.
In addition to launching the full version of Dauntless, the developer has unveiled a brand new seasonal expansion for the game, Aether Unbound. The expansion gives players the option to engage in fast-paced hand-to-claw combat with the game’s towering Behemoths, as well as participate in a new Bounty System:
The next seasonal expansion, Aether Unbound, adds a powerful new way for Slayers to hunt: the Aether Strikers. The combo-heavy strikers transform Slayers into living weapons with the ability to unleash fast-moving attacks and powerful techniques. This update also adds the savage new Dire Behemoth, Tempestborne Stormclaw, a new Bounty system, and a Hunt Pass packed with special challenges and in-game rewards. The new Bounty system replaces weekly quests and Hunt Pass part breaks, empowering Slayers to pick and choose which bounties they are most interested in pursuing. Phoenix Labs also squashed more than 500 bugs on the road to its 1.0 launch, making this patch one of Dauntless’ most polished to date.
These updates arrive just as Dauntless’s playerbase has reached more than 15 million players, and just before its launch on the Nintendo Switch later this year.
“Today is the celebration and culmination of the past five years of the development of Dauntless, and the amazing community of Slayers that have supported the game, provided feedback and ultimately helped us craft the experience of the Shattered Isles.” said Jesse Houston, the CEO and Co-Founder of Phoenix Labs. “As we cross the 1.0 milestone and 15 million players, we as a studio could not be more excited to set our sights on the future of Dauntless.”
A trailer for Dauntless’s 1.0 Update and the Aether Unbound expansion has been embedded above.