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Comparing the Announcement Trailer of Monster Hunter Wilds with World and Rise's Reveals

The unique announcement trailer of Monster Hunter Wilds sets it apart from previous Monster Hunter games’ reveals.
Comparing the Announcement Trailer of Monster Hunter Wilds with World and Rise's Reveals

Highlights

  • Monster Hunter Wilds breaks the trend of previous games in the series by announcing itself far in advance and releasing in 2025.
  • The marketing approach for Monster Hunter Wilds is different from past games, with a shorter trailer that focuses more on showcasing the game's features rather than providing a full reveal.
  • Monster Hunter Wilds may have a larger scope and open-world areas, which could explain the longer development time needed to meet the franchise's quality standards.

The announcement of the next Monster Hunter title, Monster Hunter Wilds, came at the end of the 2023 Game Awards, surprising Capcom fans. This new game aims to follow in Monster Hunter World's footsteps as the main Monster Hunter entry on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series. However, a downside was revealed – its release is expected as far away as 2025, a longer waiting time than anticipated. With the recent release of the mobile title Monster Hunter Now, Wilds seems to be taking its time, allowing the smaller game to gain traction.

This deviation caught the Monster Hunter community off guard, as it was assumed that Monster Hunter Wilds would follow the trend of being revealed and released within a year of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak’s final Title Update, similar to Rise after Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. The announcement of Wilds breaks many established series patterns since Monster Hunter World. While more information is promised in summer 2024, the presentation of Monster Hunter Wilds compared to its predecessors is intriguing.

Monster Hunter Wilds’ Marketing Strategy Differs from Past Games

The reveal of Monster Hunter World at Sony's E3 conference in 2017 caught many by surprise. After nearly a decade on Nintendo consoles and handhelds, the shift to stronger hardware was significant. Furthermore, the game’s release date was announced to be early 2018, only about seven months after the June 12 reveal. Capcom ensured this entry hit the ground running, and its success validated the efforts.

The expectation of Monster Hunter Rise following World’s strategy makes Monster Hunter Wilds’ approach even more mysterious. Rise first appeared at the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase on September 17, 2020, and was set to launch on March 26, 2021, within seven months of its reveal. Both Monster Hunter titles received expansion DLC about a year after their launch and then rolled out free updates for another year before the announcement of the next installment. Monster Hunter Wilds has broken this pattern of quick reveals and releases, and that's not the only trend it has bucked.

Each Monster Hunter Announcement Trailer Took Its Own Approach

The reason Monster Hunter Wilds announced itself so far in advance isn't clear, but its incomplete state is apparent from its trailer. Monster Hunter Wilds’ debut runs one minute shorter than World and Rise’s own and feels more like a trailer than a full game reveal. In comparison, Monster Hunter World leads with an entire Anjanath hunt complete with most of the game's new tools and environmental interactions, before introducing Monster Hunter's new Turf War mechanic. Since Monster Hunter Rise didn’t need to introduce Monster Hunter’s fundamentals like World did, it revealed Wirebugs, player voice lines, many new monsters, and its story before immediately leading into the reveal trailer for Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

Monster Hunter Wilds May Not Be Able To Show Its True Scope In One Trailer

It seems like Monster Hunter Wilds has a lot to prepare before it's done, given that it was announced at least one full year, possibly two, before its release. Wilds’ implied larger hunting areas may be to blame, as they need proportionally more polish to meet Monster Hunter's quality standards. A comparison of the reveal trailers for World, Rise, and Wilds displays an increasing trend toward open areas, culminating in the ambiguously open-world vista ending Monster Hunter Wilds’ trailer. With its multipurpose mount, hordes of monsters, and implied weather effects, Monster Hunter Wilds needs ample time if it's going to be Monster Hunter’s biggest game yet.

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