Mistfall Hunter is a paid, premium game. You buy it once to play, which is the first thing worth clearing up, because a fair amount of coverage made it sound free. It is not free-to-play. The Xbox store lists it under a "Buy" button rather than a "Get" one, and the Steam listing marks it as a paid title. Pricing was held back for a long time but is now settled: the game ships in a Standard and a Deluxe edition, both detailed below.
The "free" confusion
The free headlines all trace back to one thing: the Open Beta. Bellring Games ran a data-wipe Open Beta from June 15 to 22, 2026, during Steam Next Fest, and that test was free to jump into on Steam, Xbox, and the PlayStation Store. Press outlets ran with the word "free," but it applied only to that beta window. The full game at launch is a separate, paid release. Cosmetic rewards earned in the beta were set to carry over, but the build itself was wiped.
Monetization
On top of the up-front purchase, the game has in-app purchases and a battle pass. The Steam listing flags In-App Purchases, and a battle pass with a progression ladder is reported to ship at launch. What it does not have is paid power: the developers have stated there are zero pay-to-win mechanics and no paid stat boosts, summed up in their line that victory is earned in blood. The extra purchases are pitched as cosmetics and progression rather than a way to buy your way ahead in a fight.
Pricing landed on July 17, 2026, about two weeks before release. The game uses regional pricing, so players in countries with lower-valued currencies pay a local rate rather than a flat conversion. Anything bought with real money stays cosmetic, and the Season 1 battle pass is free for everyone.
Editions and pricing
Two editions went on sale at launch. The Deluxe edition contains the base game plus its bonus content, and you can start on the Standard edition and pay the difference later rather than being locked out of the extras.
Edition | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
Standard | $24.99 | The full base game: every class, every launch map, the core hunting loop, and the seasonal content. |
Deluxe | $39.99 | Everything in Standard plus the full bonus pack, listed below, and 2,500 Fate Coins. |
Standard to Deluxe upgrade | $15.00 | Buy Standard first and upgrade later for the difference. |
The introductory discount was 10 percent, running from 01:00 UTC on July 30, 2026 to 17:00 UTC on August 12, 2026, about two weeks. Fate Coins, the currency bundled with the Deluxe edition, buy cosmetic items only and cannot be spent on power. Regional prices differ: in China the two editions list at 88 and 138 yuan respectively, with the same launch discount applied on top.
Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
Business model | Paid premium game, not free-to-play |
Launch price | Standard $24.99, Deluxe $39.99, upgrade $15.00; 10% off for about two weeks from launch |
Extra purchases | In-app purchases plus a battle pass at launch |
Pay-to-win | None; no paid stat boosts |
Free access | Open Beta only (June 15 to 22, 2026) |
Battle pass | Season 1 battle pass is free for all players |
What the Deluxe edition contains
Item | Type |
|---|---|
Forsaken Skeleton | Exclusive outfit |
Shipwreck Coast | Exclusive background |
Web of Fate | Exclusive earrings |
Justice | Exclusive pose |
Pip's Daily Life | Exclusive emotes |
Dew | Exclusive avatar |
Light Feather | Exclusive avatar frame |
Fate Coin x2,500 | Cosmetic currency |
Deluxe bonuses can only be claimed once per account, and buying the upgrade again does not grant them twice. The upgrade itself is also excluded from Steam Family Sharing even though the base game is not.
Xbox Game Pass
Mistfall Hunter is confirmed to launch day one with Xbox Game Pass, announced by Microsoft alongside the game. If you subscribe, you can play it from launch without a separate purchase on supported platforms; if you do not, the paid model above applies.
Platforms and release
The game released July 29, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, with cross-play supported across all three platforms. Cross-platform co-op is part of that, so you can squad up regardless of which version your friends own. For the broader feature set and the setting, start from Mistfall Hunter. Launch lands at 6:00 PM Pacific on July 29, which is 01:00 UTC on July 30, so the console storefronts listing a July 30 date are describing the same moment. What ships alongside the game is covered on Season 1: Soul Hunt.
Servers, regions, and sharing
Servers are deployed across five countries: China, the United States, Germany, Singapore, and Brazil. One regional rule affects who can play where: for compliance reasons, store accounts registered in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands download the North American build by default and can only reach the North American servers.
Steam Family Sharing is supported for the base game. The developers attached a condition to it: if a shared account is caught cheating, both the borrowing and the lending account are permanently banned.