Monster Hunter World (PS4, PC and Xbox One) comes to PC much later than on consoles. According to analysts, this could negatively impact the game’s success and revenue. Generally, Monster Hunter World is seen quite positively.
It’s almost time! On January 26, 2018, Monster Hunter World will finally be released for the PS4 and Xbox One consoles. The latest installment in the Monster Hunter series aims to establish the immensely popular franchise in Japan in the West on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Until now, the series has primarily been found on handheld devices, such as the Nintendo DS, and outside Japan, it has been more of a niche title.
Monster Hunter World is expected to succeed here, but the delayed PC version could jeopardize the game’s overall revenue.
Monster Hunter World is likely to be a success here …
According to analysts from SuperDataResearch, Monster Hunter World could be well received in the West. Developer Capcom has made a significant effort to make the game appealing to Western players:
- Monster Hunter World has more open-world gameplay
- There are more tutorials, as Western players are often unfamiliar with the game mechanics
- The learning curve is not as steep as in typical previous installments of the series
These changes are expected to be well received in the West and contribute to the game’s commercial success.
They expect between 300,000 to 600,000 digital sales in the first month. While that wouldn’t be a AAA-level success, it would be a solid result for a series that has so far only been successful in Japan.
These 4 things you should know before buying Monster Hunter World
… but the PC release in autumn poses a threat to revenue
However, analysts see the modest success of Monster Hunter World at risk, mainly due to the late release of the PC version, which is expected to arrive only in autumn 2018.
Until then, analysts fear that PC players may have already turned to other titles, and interest in Monster Hunter may have waned.
Long gap between console and PC releases has never been good
Similar cases are cited as evidence, where console and PC releases were far apart. For the action RPG “Nioh,” the console release was in February 2017, while the PC version did not appear until November.
At that time, the player base on PC was only 28 percent of the player count that had initially engaged in the console’s first month.
As a counterexample, SuperDataResearch mentions Dark Souls III. It was released on PC just a few weeks after the console release and had a solid 40 percent of the console player base on PC.
Therefore, analysts fear revenue losses due to the delayed release of Monster Hunter World on PC.
Here you can find out how the release version on PS4 of Monster Hunter World plays
