The Monster Hunter series has always been one of Capcom’s biggest, but with the release of Monster Hunter World in 2018, the franchise reached new heights becoming the best selling Capcom game of all time with over 15 million copies sold. Back in September 2019, Capcom released the much anticipated expansion titled Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Just over 6 months after its release, the expansion has already been confirmed to have shipped over 5 million copies.
Announced by Capcom in a press release, the publisher stated that “MHW:I achieved 5 million units shipped following steady sales growth backed by global critical acclaim, such as highly-positive review scores following the game's release in September 2019”. The expansion did indeed receive critical acclaim, achieving a metacritic score of 89 and becoming the 5th highest rated ‘game’ of 2019 on the PlayStation 4 – only behind Final Fantasy XVI: Shadowbringers; NieR: Automata – Game of the YoRHa Edition; Resident Evil 2; and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
Monster Hunter: World is the 5th mainline title in the series and the only one to release on the current generation of consoles. It is also worth noting that Monster Hunter: World is required in order to play Iceborne, making the expansion’s shipments of 5 million copies even more impressive when put up against World’s 15 million copies.
With Monster Hunter: World and Iceborne being such successes, it’ll be interesting to see what Capcom chooses to do next with the franchise. We already know that a film adaptation directed by Paul W. S. Anderson is in the works and set for a September 2020 release date, but the evolution of the game series beyond Iceborne is currently unknown. Regardless, the future of the Monster Hunter franchise is bright, and fans are no doubt excited to see what Capcom has in store for the next game in the series – whenever its release may be.
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KitGuru says: Have you played Monster Hunter: World and Iceborne? Are you surprised to see that MH: World is the best selling Capcom game of all time? What would you like to see from the franchise in the future? Let us know down below.