Monster Hunter Wilds Is Getting Exactly What It Needs
A monster-sized update.
Monster Hunter Wilds may be the perfect entry point for players new to the series. But longtime fans felt the shorter runtime of the recent entry’s surprisingly story-rich campaign left the series' typical endgame a little lighter on content than usual. Well, it seems that Capcom has heard the chorus and is hoping to rectify that criticism in the game’s first title update, even bringing back a fan favorite feature.
Capcom revealed what’s in store for Monster Hunter Wilds’ first title update this week. The free update includes two new monsters to hunt, a new minigame, cosmetics, and more. The update is slated to hit April 3.
Mizutsune, the bubble-blowing beast and series mainstay, will be the main combative highlight of the game’s first title update. Players must reach Hunter Rank 21 to take on the amphibious Leviathan, and can begin the hunt by speaking to Kanya in the Scarlett forest. The showcase also showed off some of the outfits players can craft for themselves and their Palico after defeating Mizutsune.
The Zoh Shia can now be defeated and used to craft two new outfits.
The title update will also add the game’s final boss (spoiler warning) Zoh Shia as a monster players can hunt once more. As of now, Zoh Shia can only be encountered once during Wilds’ story mode. After Title Update 1, a battle with Zoh Shia will be an accessible quest for those who’ve reached Hunter Rank 50. Players can set out on this hunt from the Environment Overview.
The most interesting new addition is a new social hub area called The Grand Hub. The Grand Hub will give Rank 16 hunters a place to hang out with friends between tracking and fighting out in the Wilds, functioning similarly to The Gathering Hub in 2018’s Monster Hunter World. The Squad Information Counter will be moved to this new location, letting players congregate here and organize their group before moving out. The Grand Hub will also add a new Barrel Bowling minigame, which rewards pendants and other useful items for characters, and a new singing NPC from the series’ past named The Diva.
Arena Quests are returning to the series, essentially adding a time attack mode. Players can check how they rank against other hunters around the world on the Expedition Record Board. Meanwhile, Challenge Quests will ask up to two players to don a specific equipment loadout for a hunt for a shot at earning pendants and wearable participation awards. Free Challenge Quests enforce no restrictions on equipment and allow up to four players to jump in on the challenge.
Rounding out the update is a slew of new cosmetics, the return of classic gestures, and two timed events. The first is the Festival of Accord: Blossomdance, a seasonal event scheduled for April 22 to May 6 at the Grand Hub. It will offer players a shot at earning limited equipment, gestures, and pop-up camp decorations. Between April 29 and May 20, players will have a window to hunt a new powerful monster variant in the Arch-tempered Ray Dau.
It’s a pretty substantial update for Monster Hunter Wilds, one that’s set to roll out as players are starting to sink their teeth into the loop of its end-game content. But Capcom teased at the end of its showcase that the first update is just the beginning. The closing shot showed the claw of the fan-favorite monster Lagiacrus. The dragon-like leviathan has appeared in every Monster Hunter game since 2010, and it's likely to be the headlining monster this summer.
Monster Hunter Wilds has already become one of 2025’s biggest hits. The game reached a staggering 1.3 million concurrent users on Steam alone during its launch weekend, the sixth highest number of concurrent players for a Steam game ever. The game sold 8 million units in just three days, according to Capcom.
