Summary
Next year’sMonster Hunter Wildsis already shaping up to be one of 2025’s most anticipated releases, thanks in no small part to the prolific rise of theMonster Hunterseries in the West. The franchise recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and announced that it had reached a lifetime sales milestone of more than 100 million units sold, setting even loftier expectations forMonster Hunter Wildsin the process. Considering how instrumental bothMonster Hunter WorldandMonster Hunter Riseare to the franchise’s recent success and crossover appeal, all eyes are now onWildsto see if it can meet or surpass its two predecessors.
Prior to the launch ofMonster Hunter World, theMonster Hunterfranchise occupied niche territory. Though the franchise has been popular in its native Japan for well over a decade (including strong sales on that side of the world),Monster Hunter World’s successis the tipping point for the franchise’s crossover into the mainstream in the West. To date,Monster Hunter Worldaccounts for almost half of the franchise’s total sales, with an impressive 38 million units sold since its launch in 2018.Riseisn’t far behind, either, setting the stage forWildsto follow suit.
Monster Hunter Wilds' Announcement Only Helped Boost the Series' Profile
Thereveal ofMonster Hunter Wildsat The Game Awards 2023 brought with it an immediate and staggering boost to the average player counts forMonster Hunter World. 5 years since the game’s initial launch, the title would routinely hit concurrent player counts of more than 150,000 in the weeks followingWilds' announcement, and the game is still hitting an impressive average of roughly 70,000 active players months later. Ultimately, the upcoming release of a newMonster Huntergame only served to bring people back to the franchise, which bodes well forMonster Hunter Wilds' future success.
EvenMonster Hunter Rise, which has similar success asWorldbut has only sold about half of the total units, continues to have an impressive almost 20,000 average concurrent players on Steam. Out of the 100 million units theMonster Hunterseries has sold to date,Monster Hunter WorldandRiseaccount for more than half, and there’s every reason to believe that continued interest in both titles years after their release will translate to some impressive sales figures forMonster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter is a Pillar of Capcom’s Continued Success
Though it’s always been an importantfranchise in Capcom’s catalog,Monster Hunter’s impressive sales milestone now makes it one of three pillars that support the legendary developer and publisher’s business. The “100 million +” club is an exclusive group of titles, and for Capcom there are only three of its franchises that have membership –Street Fighter,Resident Evil, andMonster Hunter. BothMonster Hunter WorldandRisehave helped the franchise reach the same kind of popularity previously reserved forResident EvilandStreet Fightertitles in North America, which makesMonster Hunter Wilds' release next year all the more significant.
With rumors suggesting thatthe nextResident Eviltitles (both mainline entries and another remake of a classic game) won’t arrive until 2026, the stage is set forMonster Hunter Wildsto be Capcom’s biggest AAA release in 2025. And with Capcom having a seemingly unbreakable run of successes over the last several years, there’s every possibility thatMonster Hunter Wildscould potentially bypassMonster Hunter World’s sales to become the best-selling game in the franchise and the biggest single title in the history of the series. TheMonster Hunterfranchise has gone from a niche series to a global success, andMonster Hunter Wildsstands to benefit the most.
Monster Hunter Wilds
WHERE TO PLAY
The unbridled force of nature runs wild and relentless, with environments transforming drastically from one moment to the next. This is a story of monsters and humans and their struggles to live in harmony in a world of duality.Fulfill your duty as a Hunter by tracking and defeating powerful monsters and forging strong new weapons and armor from the materials you harvest from your hunt as you uncover the connection between the people of the Forbidden Lands and the locales they inhabit.The ultimate hunting experience awaits you in Monster Hunter Wilds.
