Image: Capcom
Monster Hunter Wilds is by far the biggest Monster Hunter title yet on Steam, and it still has time to grow.
Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest mainline title in Capcom's classic Monster Hunter series, had an explosive launch on Friday (28 February) and peaked at 1.3 million concurrent players on Steam despite performance issues on multiple platforms.
According to SteamDB, Monster Hunter Wilds peaked at 1.3 million concurrent players during prime gaming time in Asia. It achieved the sixth highest concurrent player count on Steam behind the likes of PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, Black Myth Wukong, Palworld, Counter-Strike 2, and Lost Ark.
Monster Hunter Wilds' staggering launch numbers on Steam notably dwarfed the peak concurrent player counts of the series' two previous titles, with Monster Hunter World peaking at over 334,000 and Monster Hunter Rise at over 231,000. Despite its already explosive launch, Monster Hunter Wilds is still very likely to reach new heights over the course of its launch weekend, especially on Sunday (2 March).
Monster Hunter Wilds' explosive launch marred by performance issues
While Monster Hunter Wilds' launch numbers on Steam are certainly impressive, only 48% of the reviews for the game in the platform have been positive. An overwhelming majority of negative reviews have cited performance issues, even as the game's content still largely lived up to – or even surpassed – the expectations of the dedicated Monster Hunter playerbase.
Technical and optimisation issues have been plaguing players even during Monster Hunter Wilds' open beta tests, with some users reporting performance problems even on high-end PCs. These issues seem to have persisted to the game's launch. These issues aren't exclusive to PC users though, as Monster Hunter Wilds players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S have also been complaining of poor optimisation.
Performance issues aren't a new problem for the Monster Hunter series on PC, with Monster Hunter: World's PC launch also facing the same problems despite releasing seven months after the game's console version. Monster Hunter: World's performance issues would eventually get fixed following a number of performance patches by Capcom, so players can expect the same to happen for Monster Hunter Wilds. With that said, it's still a disapppointing blemish on an otherwise stellar launch.
For those who have enjoyed a positive experience with Monster Hunter Wilds at launch, the game already has plenty of exciting content coming soon. Monster Hunter Wilds' first free Title Update is set to be released in early April and will feature the returning monster Mizutsune, an online Gathering Hub, and more challenging endgame content.
According to Monster Hunter Wilds' initial free Title Update Roadmap, the game's second free Title Update will come in the Summer. It will feature more Event Quests plus a new as-yet unnamed monster.
Monster Hunter Wilds launched globally on 28 February, 2025 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
