It’s been a little while sinceMonster Hunter Wildswas released on June 15, 2025, and a lot has happened in that time. After selling an impressive 10 million copies in its first month,Monster Hunter Wildsbegan chipping away at its promised Free Title Updates, and has released two so far. That’s on top of several other updates, like rotating Arch-Tempered quests, a surprisingly involvedStreet Fightercrossover, and a general fleshing-out ofMH Wilds’ endgame. A year hasn’t even passed yet, andMonster Hunter Wildsis already proving its worth as the latest title in the Monster Hunter franchise.
Wilds needed some early version victories, as it’s breaking away from manyMonster Huntertraditions. Going open world required a different hunt structure and multiplayer integration, along with the introduction ofWilds’ new Seikret mount among other quality-of-life features.Monster Hunter’s recurring 14 weapon classeshave also been refurbished to work withWilds’ new Focus Mode. These conveniences, synergizing with the surge ofMonster Hunterhype that started in late 2023, should have guaranteed great momentum fromMonster Hunter Wilds, but it already feels like the game’s initial reception is fading away.
The Good Times Are Over For Monster Hunter Wilds
MH Wilds’ Flaws Piled Up Too Quickly For A Fix
Judging by the player counts on Steam Charts sporting five-digit players even at the slowest hours,Monster Hunter Wildsis far from dead, and the combination ofStreet Fighter’s Akuma arrivingand the second Title Update did prompt a small uptick in players. However, community sentiment has not been as steady, andMH Wilds' Steam reviews are still slowly picking back up after dropping to Overwhelmingly Negative. Veteran players, even those who came in atMH WorldorRise, have been returning to their preferred entries upon hittingWilds’ barren endgame, and the overall player count is trending lower all the time.
Many ofMonster Hunter Wilds’ issues are still present in its console versions, but what’s dominating the game’s discussion is how it runs on computers. To make a long story short,Monster Hunter Wildshas always performed poorly on PC, and when an early patch tanked framerates and stability further, fans review-bombed the game. Every official update has been accompanied by desperate pleas forMonster Hunter Wildsto be optimized, and Capcom even had to cancel a panel aboutMH Wilds’ optimization at the upcoming CEDEC 2025 conference due to harassment the development staff have received.Monster Hunter Wildsis going through dark times.
Monster Hunter Wilds Will Have To Weather The Storm It Kicked Up
There are some improvements, like Title Update 2 addressing the shader compilation bloat that has been causing especially bad lag, but for the time being, it seems likeMonster Hunter Wildshas hit its lowest point. Pre-launch hype and post-launch playthroughs have given way to frustrations thatMonster Hunter Wildsmay not be able to address in the near future. Even if it can, PC players are still going to run into persistent performance problems in the meantime. Threatening developers is always unwarranted, but it really is too soon to boast aboutMH Wilds’ optimization when it’s a constant complaint.
Hope For Monster Hunter Wilds’ Future Is Distant, But Present
Breaking into a golden age is still possible forMonster Hunter Wilds, but it will take a lot of time, and likely a whole new release. The expectedMaster Rank expansion forMonster Hunter Wildsis one option, but so is an optimized Nintendo Switch 2 version. With all the talk of performance problems, that’s a long shot, but if Capcom can getWildsto run on the Switch 2’s weaker hardware, then PC players’ woes should be addressed in the process.Monster Hunter Wilds’best days may be behind it, but with hard work and dedication, there’s still a light at the end of the tunnel.
