Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate arrived in Japan — where's it's known as Monster Hunter 4G — on 11th October, alongside the New Nintendo 3DS models. An expansion of the original Monster Hunter 4, it looks set to recreate the success of that release.
Capcom has issued a press release outlining the early progress of the new title, stating that early sales are on track with the company's expectations. Monster Hunter 4G has shipped more than two million copies in its first five days on sale, which also includes download cards and direct eShop sales. Monster Hunter 4 enjoyed a similarly impressive start and has shipped over 4.1 million units in total, so Capcom will be hoping that this expanded and enhanced version will hit the same heights; in Japan content and data from the first game can be transferred to 4G, to further encourage double dips as well as newcomers.
Capcom reports that, as a franchise, Monster Hunter has now shipped over 31 million units; 2014 is the 10th anniversary year for the series. Nintendo will undoubtedly hope that success with Monster Hunter 4G / Ultimate will solidify Capcom's commitment to bringing its mainline series entries as exclusives to its hardware, with the 3DS games proving particularly lucrative in Japan. While various spin-offs have been on other systems recently, strong related sales suggest that the Monster Hunter series has been an important part of the 3DS' success in Nintendo and Capcom's homeland.
Those of us in the West have a bit of a wait for Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate — it's due in early 2015, but you can always have a read of our recent preview if you want to know what we think of it so far.
[source capcom.co.jp]
Comments 32
ohh wow. sounds great. Idk i always wanted to try Monster hunter, but never really did, i played the Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate demo on Wii U, and i thought it was a bit slow, and the warriors fought slow aswell? is this the case in the full game aswell?
@BLPs lol yep, that's a sequel incoming
Great to see it do so well.
I'm very torn over this one. Loved Monster Hunter on Wii U but couldn't get on with the 3DS game, so I don't think I'll be picking this up. It makes me wonder if we'll be seeing it on any console at all. Why would they bother working on a console port when they could just do another 3DS version and sell so many more copies.
Well this will cement Nintendo and Capcom's MH relationship.
@BLPs That's the plus side out of the many downsides.
@erv we should be lucky that it did well........ I mean, if it didn't even come close to 1 million, it'd be an end.
I feel sorry for the end of Strider.
Wait so there are two Monster Hunter 4 titles? Way to milk a franchise not only by number of sequels. Couldn't rest easy after purchasing MH3 last year when they announced MH4 which makes any title before it redundant.
Monster Hunter beats SSB! Now Nintendo will have to put some of those monsters in the next SSB.
I have a MH 3 bundled 3DS XL, I only played the game for a couple of hours and got bored of it... too many things to learn and keep track of... not my type of game.
@BLPs
I thought you were serious then I got the joke.
@Peach64
Did MH3U shipped 2 million units? If not, then we won't get a sequel/port.
@97alexk The demo did a horrible job of letting you know what to do and how to do it. Also different weapons are faster then others so you can adjust to your play style. Slow weapons equals more power and faster less but each have further benefits even more then that.
Too bad 2 million shipped doesn't mean 2 million in sales as of yet.
I know I'm beating a dead horse, but now bring it to WiiU!!
@Tsurii897 Yeah I don't. 10 hours played on WiiU and 3DS and Demo and still don't get the appeal. Probably because I played Runescape for 8 years and these games seem like it; yeah obviously not all the same but similar. They both have the MH4 in title; their pulling off their Street Fighter bull.
Oh really, are you to say you would play MH3 after MH4 is released? MH2 , MH1, and their expansions if they have them? I know you can transer some kind of data over to the next, but after that they will be redundant. No newcomer would go back to the earlier game.
@FritzFrapp Haha!! Exactly
I never could get into the Wii version, but to be fair I didn't really give it a chance, tell me people, what is it about this game thats got people soooooo crazy for it?
@RoomB31 Il explain it with an old article of mine http://pauseyourgame.com/2013/06/my-love-for-monster-hunter/
@__Link__ allow me to beat it with you. Bring this to the WiiU!
Hey, Capcom, it is cool to see MH selling so much. Too bad it is making you think that ALL of your games should sell those numbers or they are not worthy.
@__Link__ Surprised there is not an active campaign for 4U to be on Wii U. Sadly it just died
Looks like Capcom will make a sequel since it's already hit it's 2 million quota.
Hopefully it can beat P3rd's lifetime sales. That should be the goal for Nintendo and Capcom.
@Jazzer94 Depends if it makes more or less money than the iOS one.
MH5 better be on Wii U, the system needs a Monster Hunter game built from the ground up.
Okay Capcom you had your $2 millions, now give me Monster Hunter 5 for Wii U.
And Capcom is just gonna leave this deal with the 3DS for the Vita? Of course not! And after results like this, there is no way they don't renew their deal.
You can't make the install base excuse after 2015 Capcom, bring MH5 to Wii U.
@Nintendian
It won't beat it anywhere else but Japan honestly.
In a small land they make these numbers. Western hunters: I call on you to take up arms and support this franchise with all your might!
I have a feeling Capcom is working on a sequal for both the Wii U and Nintendo's next home console.....I can feel it in the "sales"
There's a reason why MH4U isn't on Wii U. Monster Hunter appeals to the Japanese market, and is niche in the west. Home consoles are pretty much dead in Japan, so putting it as a 3DS exclusive makes sense. Monster Hunter for Wii U won't boost it's sales there.
I'll say this: Want MH4U? Get a 3DS.
@__Link__ Unfortunately, the last time home consoles were doing exceptionally well in Japan was with the PS2. X_X
@Porky
Not exactly. The 'G' literally stands for G-rank, which is basically an extra rank that holds the toughest missions.
Its less like what they do with Street Fighter and more like what Game Freak does (or did) with the 3rd Pokemon games. Its more like a remake with an expansion or two's worth of content on top. Sorta like the 'war chest' edition of PC games, except its brand-new content.
@TromboneGamer That 'small land' has a population of over 125m people...
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