Monster Hunter Wilds Hits Steam’s All-Time Peak Top 5, Yet User Reviews Stand at Only 54%

Monster Hunter Wilds Achieves Remarkable Player Milestone on Steam

CAPCOM’s latest installment in the beloved monster hunting series, Monster Hunter Wilds, is making waves with its impressive launch. The game has broken the previous records for concurrent players set by its predecessors, Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise, which peaked at 334, 000 and 231, 000 concurrent users, respectively.

Recently, Monster Hunter Wilds hit a staggering 1.38 million concurrent users. This impressive figure not only surpasses Monster Hunter World by over a million players but also secures the game a place among Steam’s all-time top five games, only falling behind heavyweights such as PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, Black Myth: Wukong, Palworld, and Counter-Strike 2. Interestingly, it sits just above the free-to-play title Lost Ark. There is potential for new records to be set soon, although overtaking Counter-Strike 2‘s peak of 1.8 million players may be a challenge.

User Feedback: A Contrasting Picture

Despite its monumental player base, the reception of Monster Hunter Wilds among users appears less favorable. Currently, the game’s average user review score on Steam stands at only 54%, significantly lower than Monster Hunter World’s 89% and Monster Hunter Rise’s 82%.

Performance Challenges on PC

One major area of concern for players is performance, particularly on PC. As indicated by system requirements and the provided benchmark tool, the game’s performance can be inconsistent. Smooth gameplay predominantly becomes achievable only through the use of Frame Generation. While the frame rate drops may not be glaringly obvious during intense gameplay, recorded footage reveals a troubling amount of choppiness. For gamers without cutting-edge hardware, achieving 60 FPS—the minimum expected for such a title—might necessitate lowering most graphical settings and resolution.

The mixed results seen with the RE Engine, as demonstrated in both Monster Hunter Wilds and Dragon’s Dogma 2, suggest there are significant optimizations required for an open-world experience. Following the release of these titles, it is evident that developers need to enhance the engine’s performance in expansive environments.

Looking Ahead: Potential for Improvement

There remains hope that the developers will address these performance concerns in future updates, a move that could significantly elevate the game’s average user score on Steam. However, the experience with Dragon’s Dogma 2 serves as a cautionary tale, revealing that performance issues did not see notable improvement after launch. This situation underscores the need for enduring efforts to optimize the RE Engine for open-world titles.

User Modifications as a Solution

In the meantime, players may explore user-created modifications to enhance their gaming experience. For instance, Nexus user Darex2094 reported a fix for stuttering issues by updating the Direct Storage.dll file to its latest version.

As the community continues to engage with Monster Hunter Wilds, both developers and gamers alike will undoubtedly be keenly aware of the need for performance improvements and optimizations moving forward.

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