Despite being the most ambitious and fastest-selling titles in the series,Monster Hunter Wildshas had one of the most turbulent launches in the history of the franchise. Even if some ofWild’sissues are to be expected, given the similar issues that plaguedMonster Hunter Worldlong after release, Capcom’s latest entry in the beloved series hasn’t seemed to learn from its past mistakes. What makes the disastrous state ofMonster Hunter Wilds' PC release even more astounding is a recent statement released by Capcom themselves.
Even if the PC experience has been rocky at best and borderline unplayable for some, that hasn’t stopped Capcom from adding a plethora of new content to aid your hunting experience. Unfortunately, these additions can only help so much, asthelimited performance enhancementshaven’t been enough to combat its steady rise of technical issues. While the latest title update should have marked a significant turning point forMonster Hunter Wilds, its review scores are dropping at an even higher rate than before.
Nearly Half Of Capcom’s Total Sales Are From PC
A Significant Leap From Capcom’s Previous Records
As if the current state ofWildswasn’t confusing enough,Capcom has released a financial report that claims Steam alone accounts for a whopping 42.1% of the company’s total sales, as noted byPC Gamer. Compared to how atrociousWilds’review scores have been lately, it’s a strange choice for Capcom not to take the situation with more gravity.
There’s more than enough financial incentive to foster a positive relationship with their PC community.
With the percentage of Steam sales increasing by 61.1% over the previous year for a total of $363 million, according toPC Gamer, there’s more than enough financial incentive to foster a positive relationship with their PC community.Making the situation even worse is Capcom’s internal praise ofMonster Hunter Wilds' contribution to the boom in revenue, giving a special shout-out to its over $10M sales. While therecord-breaking sales forWildshave been unprecedented for the series, it apparently hasn’t been enough to prioritize technical stability over rushing out new content.
Monster Hunter Wilds' Performance Problems Keep Getting Worse Over Time
Each Fix Feels More Like A Band-Aid Solution
Despite public perception, Capcom hasn’t been completely ignoringMonster Hunter Wilds' ongoing performance issues. Since its release,Wildshas receivedhundreds of bug fixesand quality of life improvements to try and address its technical problems, but it still has yet to fix the biggest problems plaguingMonster Hunter: Wilds.
While the second title update forWildsshould have been a surefire success for Capcom, bringing a fan-favorite mechanic that’s beenabsent for 16 years, it’s madeMonster Hunter’s ongoing issues even more prevalent. Each major update forWildsseems to bring even more problems than solutions, making its tanking review scores more than a little understandable. On top of the normal FPS and visual bugs,a significant number of players onSteamhave reported thatMonster Hunter Wildssimply won’t progress past the loading screen, or will consistently crash on start.
Each major update forWildsseems to bring even more problems than solutions.
Even when compared to the disastrous launch of Capcom’s previousMonster Hunter World, many of its most pressing issues were fixed weeks or months after launch. While it still took a full year for Capcom to iron out the majority ofWorld's problems, it’s still a stark contrast to the latest outing in the series.As ifWilds’growing performance issues weren’t enough,Capcom has faced plenty of backlash for prioritizing cosmetics over fixing the game’s most pressing issues, with a flood of DLC content still pouring in as usual for the series.
Capcom’s Perception Of Wilds Is Worrying News For The Franchise
The Future Could Be Brighter For The Monster Hunter’s Future
While I’m still holding out hope that Capcom will eventually iron out most ofMonster Hunter Wilds' issues, it’s more than a little worrisome for the direction of the series. With how much Capcom has been praisingWildsas a massive financial success for both the company and the series itself,it’s getting harder to believe that things will be much different in the future.
With the performance issues aside,another problem facingMonster Hunter Wildsis a lack of meaningful end-game content to keep its remaining players coming back. Even if this is par for the course for the series leading up to its major DLC expansion, it’s more than likely that a much higher ratio of players won’t be returning in the future. Even if Capcom does manage to stabilize the performance ofWilds, a massive content expansion is more than likely to rip open the seams of the game even worse than its original release, without the momentum it needs to thrive.
There are simply too many pressing issues to defend the game in its current state.
Even outside theMonster Hunterfranchise itself, the record-breaking success ofWildsis further proof as to whybroken PC ports are common, causing studios to potentially learning the wrong lessons from their success. While I still believe that the gameplay ofMonster Hunter Wildsis a fantastic addition to the series, there are simply too many pressing issues to defend the game in its current state. Thankfully, Capcom’s acknowledgement ofMonster Hunter Wilds' success isn’t all bad news, ashopefully it shows that there’s more than enough revenue at risk to simply ignore player concerns.
