Monster Hunter: World's gigantic success is well documented by this point. The seriously addictive action role-playing title has been crowned Capcom's best selling game of all time, but before it launched earlier this year, some doubted that it would leave a mark here in the West, with many long time fans of the series betting that shifting the franchise away from Nintendo systems would be a costly mistake.
Capcom, didn't quite see it that way, however. Capcom Europe COO Stuart Turner tells Games Industry that within the company, there was always belief that Monster Hunter could thrive in the West if it was simply released on the "right platform".
"In my 12 years of being here, the drum has been banged that Monster Hunter could sell easily in the West if it was on the right platform and if it embraced online gaming," Turner states. But even with that belief, Turner admits that it was still a risk for the publisher: "It was a big risk for the Japanese developers to go and do something that might cut off their own fanbase. They were guaranteed three or four million sales in Japan. For a risk-averse Japanese company, that's a great big gamble."
Capcom Europe marketing director Antoie Molant then reveals that Sony played a big part in convincing Capcom to bring Monster Hunter back to PlayStation: "The risk was mitigated by Sony's support, and Sony Japan in particular, who felt Monster Hunter coming to home consoles was going to sell some PS4s... And they were right."
Capcom managed to strike gold with Monster Hunter: World, then, but did you see this coming? Join the hunt in the comments section below.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 30
If only sony had done the same earlier to keep the series on vita. What might have been!
And it feels like capcom are finally making a game on ps4 on a system with the power to match the ambition. With no respect to nintendo, it always felt odd having the series on weaker platforms like the wii or the 3ds
Playstation is best place to play.
@Rob_230 I think Capcom wanted to keep using the same assets for as long as it could get away with. The PS2, PSP, Wii, and 3DS assets were all pretty much the same. They recycled that stuff for as long as they possibly could.
Monster Hunter always did well enough on Nintendo hardware and they should definitely still release a exclusive game on the Switch but you can hardly argue with the huge success of World on PS4 and Xbox One, despite being a huge fan of the franchise I haven't yet played World but I am excited to see how it plays and looks on my PS4 Pro.
"some doubted that it would leave a mark here in the West, with many long time fans of the series betting that shifting the franchise away from Nintendo systems would be a costly mistake."
Despite it starting off as a playstation franchise 🙄
Monster Hunter World is such an impressive game.
I hope they keep the core series on home consoles and squeeze as much juice out of them as possible.
@Rob_230 "It always felt odd having the series on weaker platforms"
looks at the PS2
Still they were right. Nithing sells on the other hardware anymore. The market has changed and soon, hopefulky, it'll be a healthier two horse race. Focus on the specs, get the biggest audience possible. If a company isnt up to the times then drop them.
The only thing I mind about this is the non portability. I can only play with a home console a few day in the weeks. I would've prefered a Monster Hunter game designed from scratch for the Nintendo Switch. I'm still going to play Worlds when it hits PC though.
@Dpishere Why make it a Nintendo Exclusive?
@Rob_230 ''With no respect to nintendo''
Why u so disrespectful?
I’m glad it was a big hit for Capcom.
@viciousarcanum It's true, though. A lot of people thought it was going to flop.
Sega genesis does what Nintendont.i mean PlayStation.word up son
@Navitroid haha o no. Damn autocorrect 😂😂 now i look like a massive troll
@get2sammyb yep, thats what always frustrated me. I could always see the potential. Hopefully capcom have learnt from the success of this one for the future
Fighting amazingly detailed gargantuan monsters in crispy HD/4K in lush environments, with other monsters hunter online with the skills of Capcom behind it... No brainer:)
@get2sammyb yeah, and unfortunately a lot of people wanted this game to flop.
I think we all know what that "right platform" was.
AAA games sold best on playstation, its just a fact 😎.
Also remember when resident evil 4 goes to other system (gamecube), yeah that didn't do well lol.
@Knuckles-Fajita at the time of the ps2 games it was the most popular console and not that underpowered compared to the competition.
I still wish they had taken more risks with armor and especially weapon design. Or, not even really risks, just kept the same level of quality in designs as other monster hunter games.
@AlejandroMora
Until the PC version comes and we mod out all the Elder Dragons for Thomas the Train
@Flaming_Kaiser Oh it doesn't have to be exclusive, I just can't see them making a version for both systems without the Switch version holding back the PS4 one. One built specifically for Switch is ideal I think.
@Bliquid It could but it'll be a 3ds game but for Switch just changing the camera angle just like the new Pokemon game :/
The game is a huge success, can’t argue with that.
I wouldn't say a lot of people wanted MHW to fail more than just by large salty (not all mind you) Nintendo fanboys (am I allowed to say that?) that were upset that it wasn't coming to Nintendo hardware. Remember, as it's always said around these parts, we're just a small section of the gaming community at large (as evidenced by the success of MHW)
@wiiware geez just imagine how much THAT company’s games would sell if it was on PlayStation rather than its own platform...
@Derpie1 None they would not get funded. [img] https://media.tenor.co/images/2c1f432b5a2c8f3a91a98a62d6c1dd45/raw[img]
@wiiware you do know re4 started as a GameCube exclusive
@Neku Yes, that's why capcom is weird. Resident evil start and grow on playstation, it's really weird to continue it on gamecube exclusively. It's different to expanding it, like, say, final fantasy franchise that grow on nintendo, then sony, then all console and lastly, pc.
It's not good idea to bring franchise that grow on one system, and make it exclusive to another system. Other example: rise of tomb raider.
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