It was evident shorty after its launch that Monster Hunter Wilds was going to be a success story for Capcom. The game managed an impressive feat on PC, passing the million-concurrent-players mark over the weekend. Even some of the rough edges that showed up were unable to slow down gamers from embarking on multiplayer hunts within its beautiful, albeit hardware-taxing environments.
Up until now there wasn’t concrete information about just how well it was doing, but Capcom has officially confirmed some sales numbers. The company says that Monster Hunter Wilds has already moved over 8 million units, and while the developer didn’t provide a breakdown of how the game performed on the various individual platforms where it is available, its market performance makes it the first game in the publisher’s history to reach this milestone in a span of just three days.
It’s important to note that Monster Hunter Wilds was able to put up these impressive numbers without the benefit of a release on the ubiquitous Nintendo Switch. It’s highly likely that Capcom will have it ready to go for the launch of the Switch’s successor, bringing a new boost in sales. This performance also bucks the downward trend in the overall gaming industry, contravening defeatist narratives and proving that gamers are ready to buy in for highly anticipated games that aren’t free-to-play experiences.
Capcom is crediting the game’s immense success to all of the work it did prior to the game’s release. The Japanese publisher says that it was able to get the title in front of gamers across a variety of gaming-focused events, giving players a chance to try it out for themselves during separate open beta phases. Some players grumbled about the long marketing period, but it seems as if Capcom’s strategy worked given the immense player population.