Monster Hunter Wilds had the numbers to be an instant classic. Touted as the true successor to Monster Hunter World, it launched as the series’ first current-gen exclusive and quickly broke sales records, moving over 10 million copies in its first month. Steam charts confirmed the momentum, with nearly 1.44 million peak concurrent players. But just a few months later, the game faces a steep drop in engagement—especially on PC.
While Monster Hunter World was remembered for its pacing, polish, and post-launch cadence, Wilds is struggling to maintain goodwill. Performance issues have dogged the PC version from the beta, where visuals dipped into PS1-era territory. Despite two title updates and promised patches, many still report stuttering, inconsistent frame rates, and crashes—problems that persist even on rigs that exceed recommended specs.
Title Update 2: Better Content, Same Problems
Title Update 2 introduced two heavy hitters: Lagia Cruz and Serios. The return of underwater battles through Lagia’s fight and the new weapons and armor should have drawn players back in droves. Instead, Steam metrics tell a different story. Update 1, which added Mizutsune, peaked at over 555,000 players. Update 2? Just 133,000 at the time of writing. That’s a 76% drop in peak activity.
While shader precompiling and improved upscaling have helped some players, the net gain remains minimal. The new tempered monsters—Arctempered Ray Dao, Gore Maggala, Uduna, and others—do boost difficulty, but even they can’t mask the glaring hole in Wilds: the lack of a rewarding endgame.
A Hollow Endgame Loop
Three months after Monster Hunter World’s launch, it added Kulve Taroth, a siege-style multiplayer boss that felt truly collaborative. Wilds offers no such equivalent. Instead, players grind the same eight-star hunts for marginal talisman improvements and decorations. Crafting goals are minimal, and even returning players find little incentive to farm existing content.
Update 2’s changes bring fresh gear and some challenge, but they arrive too slowly and feel disconnected from the game’s core progression. Balance is also inconsistent—Lagia Cruz may be rated five-star, but it punishes players far more than some seven-star tempered fights. That dissonance makes onboarding harder for new or returning players.
New Monster Hunter Wilds patch lands to address PC performance issues
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What’s Next for Monster Hunter Wilds?
Capcom has confirmed more content. A new monster arrives in the next update, and another is slated for Title Update 4 before year’s end. September will also bring talisman crafting, new quest difficulty tiers, and rewards that encourage build variety. RTM (Ready-to-Make) weapons will remain viable for now, giving players long-term goals.
Still, the question remains: can post-launch content patch over a flawed core? Monster Hunter Rise had its issues but managed to deliver a smoother base game with better optimization. Wilds, by contrast, feels like it’s chasing stability while releasing content that can’t quite revive its momentum.
Whether Capcom has a major expansion planned—perhaps one that transforms Wilds the way Iceborne did for World—remains to be seen. But until then, the game sits at a strange crossroads: it’s the franchise’s fastest-selling entry, yet one that many longtime fans are unsure they want to return to.
