Last year’s Monster Hunter Wilds still represents a major focus for Capcom, its latest financial report has revealed. The game, which had a slower launch than the publisher would have liked due to on-going performance issues and a delayed endgame, has not been a massive success for Capcom – even 2021’s Monster Hunter Rise outsold it at the end of last year.
But Capcom wants that to change. In the latest investor’s report, Capcom said it wants to “drive its total unit sales beyond those of Monster Hunter: World over the medium to long term”. Given that Capcom only recently announced that Monster Hunter: World has sold over 30m units worldwide – making it Capcom’s “best-selling single title of all time” – Wilds has a long, difficult path ahead. This 2018 game sold 25m copies as of 2024, incidentally, so we can deduce that 5m copies were sold over the past two years. MH World has had a very long, strong tail for Capcom.
So what is the company planning to do to get Wilds up to the same standing as World? First off are technical improvements: “ongoing enhancements to the technical performance of Monster Hunter Wilds have led to sales for the game improving,” Capcom stated in the report. There have already been significant updates to the game, with the so-called ‘final’ update for the base game particularly notable in terms of performance fixes and quality-of-life improvements.
Perhaps this is why Capcom launched a free – and generous – demo for Wilds yesterday. Available on PS5, Xbox Series, and Steam, the demo lets you play the first three chapters of the game and then transfer your save across to the full title should you buy it afterwards, and use the character creation suite. It’s a strong statement from Capcom that says to would-be buyers: ‘We fixed the game and we’re confident enough to let you try it and see.’ . I recommend giving it a go if you’re curious about it or its upcoming expansion Ascendence.
That expansion is another way Capcom plans to lift Wilds to the status of World. “We have also seen a response to the announcement of the upcoming massive expansion, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, and related pricing measures,” it noted in its report. Given that Iceborne – the expansion for World – attracted 5 million sales in its first six months on sale, you can see why there’s a lot of focus on this Wilds expansion for Capcom. Alongside the permanent price drop Wilds just received (bringing the base game down to $39.99 or £34.99), it’s clear Capcom is doing everything it can to make the game a more attractive prospect.
“We plan to continue improving the game’s technical performance as we aim to drive its total unit sales beyond those of Monster Hunter: World over the medium to long term,” concluded Capcom.But will it be enough? 30 million copies is nothing to sniff at, and our last update suggested the game was resting at about 11 million copies sold, in early 2026. There’s a long way to go.
