Tokyo played host to the PlayStation Partner Awards 2025 Japan Asia on December 3, where Monster Hunter Wilds emerged victorious, clinching both the Grand Award and the User’s Choice Award. The dynamic duo behind the game, producer Ryozo Tsujimoto and director Yuya Tokuda, shared their insights with local media before the ceremony.
Initially released on February 28, Monster Hunter Wilds faced criticism from some players. However, Tokuda mentioned that the development team leveraged this feedback to enhance the game.
“Immediately after the release, we apologized for the inconvenience caused by the volume of content and the difficulty level. Despite this, we were delighted to receive various awards, including Users’ Choice awards. We would like to thank all the players who have given their opinions and spoken warm words even in this situation. The development team was able to turn everyone’s feedback into an asset and work on the update with all our strength, and I think the result was also the reason why players voted for us,” said Tokuda.
Harnessing Player Feedback
Monster Hunter Wilds thrives on regular updates, and Tsujimoto emphasized the crucial role player feedback played in this process. “Monster Hunter has the characteristics of a title that gets regular updates, but player opinions were very helpful during the update process, and in order to make Monster Hunter Wilds better, the fans’ voices gave us power. There are still updates left to come, so we will continue to do our best,” he added.
The beloved Monster Hunter franchise recently marked its 20th anniversary. While it has always been a hit in Japan, its global acclaim skyrocketed with the release of Monster Hunter: World in 2018. Tokuda noted that the team was keenly aware of the need to cater to both newcomers and players who previously struggled with the game.
“We analyzed what kind of places beginners were stuck in, including Monster Hunter: World. We have worked on these points in turn to make it easier for new users to clear hurdles such as being able to reach certain monsters or to craft certain types of armor. In addition, we have tried to adopt as many new elements as possible that are beneficial for both beginners and existing users, such as Focus Mode. This time, as a result of making the game easy to beat even for new players and players who could not clear it before, I think the difficulty curve was a little lacking for existing users,” said Tokuda.
The Road Ahead
Tokuda assured fans that future updates will introduce more challenging content. “If you beat the game immediately after its release and stopped playing, I would appreciate it if you could pick it up again,” he encouraged.
Despite ongoing updates for Monster Hunter Wilds, Tsujimoto hinted at exciting prospects for the franchise’s future. “Of course, we don’t intend to stop the series here. We plan to continue, and we want to let more people play. In addition, I would like to think about things beyond the games so that we can further expand the potential of the Monster Hunter IP,” he stated.
Fans can look forward to new entries and more from the Monster Hunter series as suggested by Tsujimoto. He was also questioned about Monster Hunter’s standing within Capcom’s extensive IP catalog. “Capcom is a company with various IPs, and every IP is very important. I’m in charge of Monster Hunter now, that’s all I can comment on, but as Capcom, we want to expand all our IPs,” he responded.
Capcom’s future lineup includes Resident Evil Requiem, Onimusha Way of the Sword, and Pragmata, all slated for a 2026 release.
Monster Hunter Wilds emerged victorious, clinching both the Grand Award and the User’s Choice Award.