Monster Hunter Wilds director revealed that some monster designs did not make the final cut and explained the reason behind this decision. Monster Hunter Wilds was released in February 2025 and quickly became a major success, with eight million copies sold in its first three days. Now, the game is getting ready to launch its ambitious Ascendance expansion in 2027.
Capcom’s popular action RPG franchise Monster Hunter has been around since 2005 and has launched over twenty entries between mainline titles and spin-offs. Over the years, the series has introduced players to a large range of unique creatures, with Monster Hunter Wilds adding twenty new beasts. This is an impressive feat, considering that coming up with new creatures and species can sometimes be challenging for developers. However, Capcom recently confirmed that the developers had even more ideas for Monster Hunter Wild‘s lineup.
Monster Hunter Wilds Director Reveals Why Some Monsters Were Cut
In a recent interview with Postmode, Monster Hunter Wilds art director and executive director Kaname Fujioka commented that some monster designs were never added to the final game. Some of these unreleased creatures had things like multiple heads or features that “went too far in the direction of almost horror creatures.” There are some truly scary monsters in the Monster Hunter saga, but it seems the scrapped concepts did not fit the series’ approach to designing monsters.
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According to Fujioka, the possibilities when designing monsters are endless, but Capcom has a strict philosophy for Monster Hunter creatures. The director explained that the beasts have to properly fit in a living ecosystem and food chain. He added that the dev team analyzes how a monster interacts with its environment and whether its design makes sense in the game’s world. If a concept did not meet these criteria, the developers would rule it out of Monster Hunter Wilds‘ powerful monster list, regardless of how strange or scary the beast is.
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The upcoming Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance DLC has confirmed several new monsters like the flying Araketa and the Elder Dragon Gundoraja. Some fan-favorite creatures, such as the eyeless Khezu and the Elder Dragons Lao-Shun Lung and Kushala Daora, are also making a comeback. Additionally, the expansion offers new story content set in a location named The Skybound Eyrie, along with new boosted actions. Although a playable demo of Ascendance was recently shared for Tokyo Game Show attendees, Capcom has yet to confirm an exact release date. The DLC has a 2027 release window, so the developers will potentially reveal even more trailers and details in the coming months.
Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance asks fans to complete the 7-Star assignment “Awaking From a Dream” from the base game first. Fortunately for fans, there’s still plenty of time to fulfill the requirement. On the other hand, Monster Hunter Wilds confirmed its Nintendo Switch 2 debut for December 4, 2026, so more players will soon experience the record-breaking game ahead of the DLC. It will be interesting to see which new monsters will make it into the game in the future and how terrifying their designs will be.
- Released
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February 28, 2025
- ESRB
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T For Teen / Blood, Crude Humor, Violence, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases