Monster Hunter World’s Initial Prototype Focused on Creating a “Living, Breathing World”

Monster Hunter World, the latest (and greatest!) entry in Capcom’s long running action RPG series, has led to the series finally achieving the kind of explosive mainstream popularity that it has always deserved. There have been a lot of reasons for this- the game made a move to platforms where more people could play it, plus multiple quality of life changes made the title more accessible and welcoming to newcomers.

One of the biggest end results of all of this has been a game that is far more dynamic and emergent than any previous title in the series has been. Monster Hunter World’s various maps feel alive and teeming with possibilities like no other title in the series, and indeed, few other games period, have managed to achieve. And this is all because that has been the focus of development for this new game since the get go, it seems.

Speaking at GDC, Monster Hunter World director Yuya Tokuda talked about the initial prototypes for the game, which didn’t even have combat- they were just focused on creating a breathing, living, interconnected and emergent world. That idea was what guided the development of the rest of the game, too.

It seems to have turned out fantastically well- with over 7.5 million copies sold already, Monster Hunter World is the highest selling Capcom game of all time—and this is before the PC version is even out!

Monster Hunter World is playable now on PS4 and Xbox One.