Phoenix Labs announced that over half a million new players joined up to hunt monsters in the Shattered Isles in the first 24 hours of Dauntless’ release on May 21. This brings the total number of players for the free-to-play monster hunting game to over four million worldwide, following a year-long stint in beta. Those numbers equate to over 2 million hours played and 3 million hunts.
Dauntless is a free-to-play co-op action-RPG. Players take on the role of slayers to join forces and hunt large monsters, known as behemoths, choosing from several different weapon styles. The free-to-play game is supported by seasonal hunt passes, which can be purchased to unlock a seasonal progression system full of cosmetic items. If this sounds like a cross between Fortnite and Monster Hunter, you’re on the right track.
One of Dauntless’ biggest perks is cross-platform and cross-progression between PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The developers refer to it as One Dauntless. By linking an Epic Games account you can play with anyone on any platform, and your progress and characters will carry over between devices.
“After a year in Open Beta and a ton of great feedback from over 3 million Dauntless players, we’re proud to bring our game to console and expand our PC audience through the Epic Games store,” said Jesse Houston, CEO and Co-founder, Phoenix Labs. “When we first started talking about ‘One Dauntless,’ we knew it was a truly audacious goal. No one has ever launched on console with full cross-play support from the start, but we believed in our vision and, thankfully, our friends at Epic Games, Sony, and Microsoft did too. Keeping the community connected is one of our top priorities, and with all the new players coming in at launch, there’s never been a better time to be a Slayer in Dauntless.”
Dauntless is available for free on PC (Epic Games Store), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It’s also coming later to Switch and mobile devices.
