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When you’re watching a movie or a series, persistent technical hiccups such as buffering or pixelation will usually ruin the experience for you. The same often goes for video games, which rely on smooth framerates and clear imagery. Technical problems get in the way of the art form and can ruin the experience. That’s why it’s surprising that Monster Hunter Wilds‘ financial success is in large part due to the PC platform despite the myriad of technical issues on the PC version.
That’s right, of the reported 8 million sales and counting on the first few days for Monster Hunter Wilds a huge chunk of those sales were from the PC platform or Steam. In fact, PC was reported as the lead platform during the first week of sales for Monster Hunter Wilds.
So it goes without saying that Monster Hunter Wilds’ poor optimization, glitchy visuals, semi-forced frame generation, and monstrously-demanding system requirements were something the PC crowd chose to endure just to play the game. It might be safe to say that any other title would’ve gotten panned, seared, and cooked by critics and players alike, but this is Monster Hunter.
What was the Problem with Monster Hunter Wilds?
For the lucky ones who are rocking high-end PC gaming hardware or managed to snag Nvidia’s new cards and are unaware of such an issue, Monster Hunter Wilds has been objectively confirmed to have bad optimization. Various developers and IT experts have chimed in on the matter, and even some were resolute enough not to recommend the PC version (an advice that likely fell on deaf ears).
Simply put, the consensus is that Monster Hunter Wilds does not run well for how it looks, at least when compared to actual well-optimized titles this year such as Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (which admittedly set the bar high). Capcom has acknowledged that players are having problems and pointed them to some fixes, but what they suggested as a solution shifted the blame to the players and their PC setups.
Needless to say, Capcom didn’t exactly help with its generic technical advice, which might as well be “turn it off and on again.” As expected, the post was met with disappointed and sarcastic replies from their disgruntled PC players.
The incident has left the solution in the hands of modders, with some modders even discovering a simple fix by addressing a typo in the game directory’s .ini file (which didn’t work for everyone, by the way). Others modders have released their performance improvement mods for free, with Capcom leaving much of the immediate optimization work to the PC community.
Even then, performance mods and fixes are just bandaid solutions for wounds that go much deeper than the skin, and the true fix still lies with Capcom. It’s a hilariously bittersweet sight, because while the mess shows solidarity between gamers, a multi-million-dollar game studio could’ve done better and should not have repeated the same mistake twice.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Had the Same Issue
In 2024, Dragon’s Dogma 2 from Capcom was released to a similar tune. One of its main shortcomings was the poor optimization and performance. It just so happens that Dragon’s Dogma 2 also uses the very same game engine as Monster Hunter Wilds, called RE Engine.
It’s not clear how exactly RE Engine is affecting optimization, but PC gamers often suggest that Capcom’s proprietary game engine is not well-suited for open-world environments. Regardless of the criticisms, we may never know the specifics since, again, RE Engine is proprietary and unavailable to the public.
Still, two AAA open-world games with poor optimization using the same engine is already starting to paint a pattern for Capcom’s releases. Until Capcom puts out a statement or addresses the issue, that general assumption in the PC community about the RE Engine likely won’t go away.
Capcom Needs to Treat the PC Platform Better
It’s too early to say how much the Monster Hunter Wilds’ performance will improve or if at all. One thing is clear: Capcom will need to treat the PC platform more seriously, especially now that PC gamers have shown much enthusiasm for Monster Hunter Wilds despite the numerous technical issues. Such enthusiasm can sour after repeated disregard for it.
Right now, it seems most PC players don’t mind, as gameplay is still manageable somehow. It also helps that Monster Hunter Wilds is fun and has an addictive gameplay loop. However, in the near future, this kind of company-consumer relationship could backfire for Capcom as absurdly demanding and poorly-optimized video games could easily bar a wide spectrum of PC players from playing the game.
Even now, Capcom is imposing frame generation for Monster Hunter Wilds, meaning they are also consequentially limiting smooth PC gameplay to players who can only afford expensive and overpriced Nvidia GPUs. Not to mention frame generation isn’t even supposed to be used like how Capcom wants you to use it for Monster Hunter Wilds. Both Nvidia and AMD have specifically stated that frame generation should only be used for above 60 FPS framerate, not for reaching 60 FPS.
More than anything, of course, PC players still expect Capcom to fix the game eventually, especially with how much they’ve earned from Monster Hunter Wilds on the PC platform. Capcom appears to have already maximized its profits for shareholders and fiscal year targets, now it’s time to appease the people who made that profit possible.
