Monster Hunter Wilds had a rough go of it on PC. Performance problems piled up, other issues followed, and the Steam reception landed squarely in mixed territory. Not exactly the launch Capcom wanted for a flagship Monster Hunter game.
With Ascendance coming, though, the devs say they're putting extra focus on what it takes to make the PC version hold up. Series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto told VGC that the team has been working hard to carry lessons from Wilds' launch into Ascendance. According to him, it just takes a lot of time and research to figure out what you need to achieve on PC so a game performs well across a wide range of hardware.
That's the tricky part, honestly. On consoles, you can target the specific quirks of a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or Switch 2. On PC, you're dealing with a whole spectrum of setups. Doesn't excuse all the problems players ran into after buying Wilds on Steam, especially since PC-specific patches kept rolling out long after release, but it does explain some of the struggle Capcom ran into.
"It's just a matter of experience really, so I'm hoping that we can bring those lessons forward into Ascendance," Tsujimoto added.
Fair enough. The team has a mountain of feedback about how to get Wilds running well no matter what's under your hood. Steam reviews sit at Mostly Positive, which suggests the game runs a lot smoother than it did at launch.
For Ascendance, that's a good sign. The expansion is on the way, and while we don't know every detail yet, it's expected to be a big addition to the base game. New map areas, new creatures, and plenty of other stuff for players to dig into. If it launches in decent shape on PC, it could give that community a second wind. Or a third, considering how many hours Monster Hunter fans sink into these games.
Capcom is also finally removing the scummy character customization vouchers from Monster Hunter Wilds. Players wasted no time dancing on their grave.