Monster Hunter has been a pretty long time cult hit in the west, but it’s never truly managed to break out here beyond a niche hit status. This has, of course, been in stark contrast to the series’ explosive popularity over in Japan (where the presence of a Monster Hunter game on a system can singlehandedly make or break said system’s fortunes on the market). It is also, ironically, in spite of the fact that the Monster Hunter IP is the one franchise that Capcom never really mismanaged. While Resident Evil hit its nadir with Resident Evil 6, Monster Hunter has been consistently great, building on itself and moving from strength to strength.

So it was extremely heartening to see the franchise finally break out in the west with Monster Hunter World – not just break out as an underground hit, like Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate or Generations on 3DS, which were both the highest sellers in the series in the west before (with a little over a million copies each sold outside of Japan). No, Monster Hunter World managed to go north of 10 million units sold in the west, and in the process, became Capcom’s single most successful game of all time. It’s actually continued to sell consistently ever since its release three years ago, and at this point, there is little doubt that Monster Hunter has become a tentpole, flagship brand for Capcom, not just in Japan, but globally, as it was always meant to be.

Which is why Monster Hunter Rise is such an interesting game to observe from the perspective of following the series’ fortunes. The follow up to Monster Hunter World is hitting not PS4, Xbox One, and PC (the platforms that World came to, and hit it big on), but Nintendo Switch exclusively (although a PC port has been leaked to be in development, and due for release a few months after the Switch version launches). Of course, a portable Monster Hunter game accompanying the major console release has been a series tradition for as long as the series has existed, so a Monster Hunter World follow up coming to the only portable system on the market isn’t really that surprising at all. Moreover, the existence of a Monster Hunter game on the Switch will help the franchise maintain its monster (heh) popularity in Japan, where the Switch is the only console that does well, and even Monster Hunter World was capped at sales half of what it could have seen on PSP or 3DS on PS4.

So Monster Hunter Rise’s existence makes total sense, and its popularity in Japan at least is guaranteed. However, how will the game end up doing in the west, where Monster Hunter World found the bulk of its success?

The thing that a lot of people often ignore in discussions about Switch software sales is that, unlike a lot of previous systems that did well in Japan (such as the Nintendo 3DS or the PS Vita), its strong sales in Japan are not at the expense of strong sales in the rest of the world. In the rest of the world, in fact, the Switch has exhibited software sales every bit as strong as the PS4 (which has been a monster when it comes to software sales outside of Japan, but not in Japan), making the Switch the rare system that manages to move software as well outside of Japan as inside it. Japanese games, in fact, have often found their Switch versions to be the biggest sellers, even outside of Japan – for instance, Tales of Vesperia sold the most on the Switch in the west, and NIS America reported that Switch sales of games such as Disgaea 5 and Ys 8 were beyond the sales of those games on the PS4, in spite of the fact that the Switch got those games months or sometimes years later than the PS4 did – to the extent that for Disgaea 6, NIS America decided to release the game only on the Switch outside of Japan.

The point of this breakdown of sales is to establish that the Switch is every bit as capable of selling games globally as the PS4 – if not more. It’s as lucrative a market for games outside of Japan as it is in Japan, joining the rarefied company of systems such as the PS2 in achieving that feat. All of which is to say, that unlike, say, the 3DS or Wii versions of Monster Hunter games, which sold the disproportionate bulk of their lifetime sales in Japan, with minimal sales coming from the rest of the world, Monster Hunter Rise could – in fact, probably will – very well see massive sales from Japan as well as the rest of the world (which, again, is something that no previous game in the series has managed).

Enthusiasm for Monster Hunter Rise has been fairly evident in other ways too – for example, when Capcom launched the beta for the game on the eShop earlier this month, the servers crashed, and remained crashed for hours, buckling under the demand for a demo – not even the full game, not an expansion, just a demo. Very clearly, there is demand for a Monster Hunter game on the Switch (which was already evident previously thanks to just how strongly Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, the Switch enhanced port of an older 3DS game, performed in spite of releasing with minimal market, and after Monster Hunter World).

Monster Hunter Rise is also benefitting from Capcom treating it as a full-fledged mainline entry; so far, everything they have shown of the game looks pretty great, and the new verticality and mobility features seem to have gone down well with the series’ fanbase, judging by the reactions to the beta. Throw in the fact that this is actually the first Monster Hunter game to be built using the REEngine, meaning it’s a hell of a looker on the Switch – arguably the best looking third party game on the system, actually – and its appeal on the platform is only strengthened.

I don’t expect Monster Hunter Rise to outperform Monster Hunter World, which at this point is north of 15 million units worldwide, because that’s ridiculous. World hit three separate systems, and did well on all of them. Rise will only be launching on the Switch, and on PC if those leaks end up having merit (which they almost certainly do, but it’s best to qualify these statements absent an official confirmation). However, I do think it will be a very strong seller, and that Rise on the Switch may in fact end up selling higher than either of the Xbox One or PS4 versions of World taken individually (given the Switch’s propensity for insane software sales, the demand for a portable Monster Hunter, and the Nintendo audience’s propensity for the franchise, it’s not too unrealistic an expectation).

Even if it doesn’t, however, it will probably do very well, and end up further solidifying the Monster Hunter franchise’s place and footprint in the west. More than anything else, as a fan of this series, that’s all I really care about.

Blitzkrieg – Dead Rising 2

Created by combining an Electric Chair – itself made from a battery and wheelchair – with an assault rifle or LMG, the Blitzkrieg isn’t very mobile. It’s also slightly tough to craft. But lest you think this is just a slow wheelchair with guns, the Blitzkrieg has some of the best stopping power in the game. Zombies can be downed in one or two shots and there’s 250 uses in total, allowing for a pretty big spree of murder.

Capcom’s Monster Hunter 4G has hit a new shipping milestone, with four million units shipped across the world. This includes the enhanced edition and its Western release, namely Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. Both physical copies and digital units sold through the eShop are covered under this. Capcom hasn’t broken down the shipments based on region though.

In a public statement, Capcom said, “In North America and Europe, sales have benefited from online cooperative gameplay via the Internet, as well as user engagement via events and online community activities, a downloadable demo targeted at newcomers to the series, and an effective simultaneous roll-out with the launch of the New Nintendo 3DS.”

The franchise itself, starting from the first game in 2004, has sold 33 million units as of September 30th 2015. It’s thus one of Capcom’s most successful franchises till date.

What are your thoughts on the success of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate thus far? Let us know in the comments.

Amid several companies like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo announcing their quarterly results ending on June 30th for the fiscal year 2015, Capcom revealed in its earnings report that sales and net income had increased year on year.

The company behind Resident Evil and Devil May Cry stated that net sales were ¥14.5 billion ($116 million), which is a 51.9 percent increase over the same period last year, while net income was ¥1.57 billion ($12.6 million), meaning a 104.9 percent increase over last year.

Though games like Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (which sold more than 3.9 million units worldwide), Resident Evil Revelations 2 and Resident Evil HD Remastered experienced “robust” sales, Capcom named Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition as a key factor in its sales. The game “sold well” especially in the digital space. Sales numbers haven’t been revealed for any game other than Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate but Resident Evil HD has notched up more than 1 million units thus far.

Capcom has done a very good job of supporting the excellent Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate with free post launch content regularly ever since the game launched back in February, releasing some new weapons, costumes, and quests at the beginning of every month. And that tradition continues this month, as Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate gets a healthy helping of free DLC.

Unlike every single month, Capcom will be releasing DLC for this month in two batches- with the next batch of free DLC (which includes the vaunted Star Knight armor) due July 17. “This was a unique situation where the schedule had to be just a little different from our usual “first Friday” rule. Either way, we wanted to be clear with you that the content is still coming, although at a later time, so you don’t think something went wrong with your game,” Capcom said.

The full range of DLC that will be available this month includes:

14 New quests
5 New weapons
3 Complete armor set
1 Palico weapon
1 Palico armor set
1 Bonus Palico: Brown Pal
3 Guild Card backgrounds
7 Guild Card titles

As always, to download this free content, all you have to do is load your copy of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, go to the “DLC” menu and download all the things. You can also do this in game via the Spotpass menu.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information.

In a surprise announcement, Capcom announced the next entry in the Monster Hunter franchise- Monster Hunter X, which is a fast paced action game riff on the mainline Monster Hunter franchise. The game, which will feature and emphasize the kind of frame perfect action that is a hallmark of Capcom’s Devil May Cry series, will feature flashy animations, and hunters with different styles and specializations.

Monster Hunter X will be using the same engine that Monster Hunter 4 and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate used; it is set to be released in Japan by the end of this year. No western date was announced just yet, although, given just how successful the excellent Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate managed to be in the west, it is only a matter of time before Monster Hunter X comes over too.

Monster Hunter X is due out exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS. We will keep you posted, so stay tuned.

If you are a 3DS owner and fan of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (and really, if you are any of those two, you should be the other), then this will come as good news for you- for now, at least, you can download an excellent Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate theme for your Nintendo 3DS home menu from the Theme shop, all for free.

The new theme, which is free for everyone (meaning you can still download it even if you do not own the game) has been released to celebrate the newfound success that Monster Hunter has found in the west- Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate has sold 1 million copies outside of Japan, marking the first time the traditionally niche franchise has hit that level of success outside of Japan.

As for the theme itself? It’s great. It’s also just neutral enough in its appearance that even if you aren’t the biggest fan of Monster Hunter, you should still be able to get on board with this.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is no stranger to crossover content from other games and franchises. Thus far, we have already seen Super Mario Bros. being represented in the game, via exclusive Mario and Luigi costumes for your palico companions, and Sonic via similar Sonic costumes.

Now, this newest batch of free DLC for the game, for the month of May, ups the ante on the sheer breadth of franchises represented in the game- it brings crossover content from Metroid, Mega Man, and Street Fighter into the game.

That’s not all, either- to celebrate the recent milestone of one million units of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate shipped in the west, a new “Hunter’s Weapon Gallery” theme will be available for a limited time as a free download beginning later today on the Nintendo 3DS Theme Shop.

In addition to the new quests, collaboration content and Nintendo 3DS theme, there are even more free downloadable treats for both new and experienced hunters alike. Both the “MH4U Support Pack” and the“MH4U Advanced Pack” are filled with many useful items that will be helpful to hunters just starting out and to hunters that have put hundreds of hours into the game. And since it is all free, there is absolutely no reason for players to not just download it all.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is available exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS. It is an absolutely amazing game, and highly recommended for all 3DS owners. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information.

Capcom’s hack and slash RPG Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is already a great success in North America and Europe. After releasing this past February, Capcom announced that it had shipped more than 1 million units at both retail and on the Nintendo eShop, making it the first game in the series to do so in the West.

According to the publisher, the game’s release coinciding with the release of the New Nintendo 3DS helped it move more than 1 million units. This puts the series’ grand tally at more than 32 million units worldwide since the first game debuted in 2004.

Monster Hunter Ultimate 4 releases in Japan last year as Monster Hunter 4G and was a smash hit there as well. It crossed the 2 million units mark within its first month at retail and it’s online play has apparently been in “strong demand” in North America and Europe.

What are your thoughts on the success of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate? Let us know in the comments.

With Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, the series finally hit its true potential, and found the kind of success it has always been primed for, worldwide. But Capcom, it seems, is not content to rest on its laurels either- they have already announced a brand new entry in the Monster Hunter franchise, and it is not what you might think.

Monster Hunter Stories is a brand new Monster Hunter game, an open world RPG with a gorgeous, cel shaded style. It marks the first time Capcom has developed, and will be using, new assets for the Monster Hunter series ever since its inception back on the PlayStation 2. It also looks absolutely adorable and gorgeous, and like something I would definitely want.

Right now, it is announced for a 206 release in Japan, but a western release can’t be too far behind either- with Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Capcom pledged to shorten the gap between the Japanese and international releases of the games, and with the success that 4 Ultimate found in the west, Capcom will be a whole lot more likely to bring the games over swiftly and promptly now.