Within its first year of release, Capcom’s Monster Hunter World, the latest entry in the monster-slaying action rpg series, outsold all its other games in record time, becoming its highest-selling game in the company’s history. Millions of players have signed on, and the count rises daily.
Recently, the first big expansion to the series, Iceborne, takes hunters to an icy tundra, bringing with it new monsters, new game mechanics, an entirely new map, and a brand new campaign that lasts about as long as the original one. While the expansion takes place in the freezing cold of Seliana, reception has been blazing hot, with over 2 million copies shipped worldwide.
Already Iceborne is making major waves; while 2.5 million physical copies have been shipped, the amount of digital releases is unknown. The expansion, besides bringing new monsters and a new campaign, adds so much more that will have players occupied for hundreds of hours. Without spoiling anything, since it’s only been a little over a week since the expansion dropped, players will find things like new decorations and skills, new augmentations and custom jobs for weapons and armor, and for those who craft items on the go, a major quality of life change in being able to craft multiples at once instead of one at a time. Plenty of quality of life changes arrive for the expansion as well, putting players at ease both in and out of hunts.
The good news doesn’t stop there; Iceborne already has its first DLC in the works, and it’s coming soon. In October 10, hunters will be able to take on an old favorite–or nightmare, depending on who you ask–the Rajang, a furious, ranging thunder monkey with speed and power innumerable, and penchant for slamming down unprepared hunters, even hurling them at high speed. And Capcom promises more to come.
The Monster Hunter World: Iceborne update for PC is still scheduled as sometime in January 2020, and is expected to boost Capcom’s sales even further once it drops and the desktop/laptop crowd is able to join in the fun. Until next time, stay and play savvy, gamers!
