Monster Hunter Wilds Sales Shock: 95% Drop After Launch March 2026
Monster Hunter Wilds did not meet sales expectations according to Capcom’s latest earnings call, with the game experiencing a dramatic 95% sales decline after its record-breaking launch, selling only 477,000 units in Q1 FY2025 compared to 10 million in its first month. This unprecedented drop stems primarily from severe PC performance issues that drove away millions of players despite the game’s excellent core gameplay.
As someone who’s been hunting monsters since the PSP days, I’ve watched Monster Hunter evolve from a niche Japanese franchise into a global phenomenon. When Monster Hunter Wilds launched on February 28, 2026, I was among the 1.38 million concurrent players diving into this ambitious new entry. But what started as Capcom’s fastest-selling game ever has become one of gaming’s most shocking sales collapses of 2026, and I’ve experienced firsthand why this happened.
| Sales Period | Units Sold | Player Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Launch Month (Feb-Mar 2026) | 10 million | 1.38M peak players |
| Q1 FY2025 (Apr-Jun 2026) | 477,000 | 6,000 avg players |
| Total Lifetime | 10.585 million | 98% player drop |
From Record-Breaking Launch to Shocking Decline
I remember the excitement when Capcom announced Monster Hunter Wilds had sold 10 million copies in its first month. It was a company record, surpassing even Monster Hunter World’s impressive launch. The game introduced crossplay functionality for the first time in the franchise, allowing hunters across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S to team up. Everything seemed perfect.
But by the time Capcom’s Q1 FY2025 earnings call rolled around in August 2026, the tone had completely changed. During the investor conference, Capcom admitted that “sales of Monster Hunter Wilds during the first quarter fell short of our initial expectations.” This corporate understatement masks a harsh reality – the game sold just 477,000 units in three months, a catastrophic 95% decline from its launch performance.
To put this in perspective, I’ve tracked Monster Hunter sales for years, and this kind of drop is unprecedented for a mainline entry. Even Monster Hunter Rise, which launched as a Switch exclusive, maintained better momentum. The comprehensive Monster Hunter Wilds controversy surrounding the game has become impossible to ignore.
The PC Performance Crisis That Killed Momentum
As a PC gamer with a high-end rig (RTX 4080, Ryzen 9 7950X), I expected Monster Hunter Wilds to run flawlessly. Instead, I encountered constant stuttering, memory leaks, and crashes that made the game nearly unplayable during its crucial launch window. My experience wasn’t unique – Steam reviews plummeted to just 37% positive at one point, though they’ve since recovered slightly to 50%.
The technical issues on PC are particularly damaging because that’s where Monster Hunter has found its largest Western audience. When I check my Steam friends list, I see dozens of hunters who bought the game at launch but haven’t touched it in months. The concurrent player count tells the same story – from a peak of 1.38 million players down to an average of just 6,000. That’s a 98% player retention loss that would alarm any developer.
Despite multiple patches, including the recent Monster Hunter Wilds patch 1.021 guide I covered last month, the core performance problems persist. Frame rate drops during multiplayer hunts, texture streaming issues, and CPU optimization problems continue to plague the PC version.
Community Backlash and Lost Trust
I’ve been active in the Monster Hunter community across Reddit, Discord, and various forums since 2026 began, and I’ve never seen sentiment shift this dramatically. The r/MonsterHunter subreddit, usually a celebration of the franchise, has become dominated by technical complaint threads and sales disappointment discussions.
What makes this particularly painful for longtime fans like myself is that the core gameplay of Monster Hunter Wilds is actually excellent. The new Seikret mount system and layered weapons, dynamic weather, and seamless map transitions represent genuine evolution for the series. But none of that matters when players can’t enjoy the game due to technical problems.
The addition of fan-favorite monsters like Lagiacrus in Title Update 2 should have brought players back, but Steam charts show minimal impact. Even free content updates aren’t enough to overcome the negative word-of-mouth that’s spread throughout the gaming community.
Financial Impact and Capcom’s Response
The immediate financial impact has been severe. Capcom’s stock dropped 9.5% following the earnings announcement, wiping out billions in market value. For context, Monster Hunter is Capcom’s flagship franchise, typically accounting for a significant portion of their annual revenue. This underperformance affects their entire fiscal outlook.
What’s particularly embarrassing for Capcom is that Monster Hunter Wilds is being outsold by their back catalog. Devil May Cry 5, released in 2019, is moving more units in 2026 than their newest Monster Hunter title. Even within the Monster Hunter franchise, older titles like Monster Hunter World and Rise are maintaining stronger sales momentum.
Capcom’s response has been measured but concerning. During the earnings call, they emphasized ongoing efforts to address technical issues and promised continued support through regular updates. However, they’ve also quietly adjusted their sales projections downward for the remainder of the fiscal year, suggesting they don’t expect a miraculous recovery.
What This Means for Monster Hunter’s Future?
As someone who’s invested thousands of hours into this franchise, the Monster Hunter Wilds situation worries me deeply. This isn’t just about one game underperforming – it’s about the potential long-term damage to one of gaming’s most beloved franchises.
The failure of Wilds could impact Capcom’s willingness to invest in ambitious Monster Hunter projects. The game’s crossplay implementation, while technically impressive, clearly came at the cost of optimization. Future entries might play it safer, potentially stifling the innovation that’s kept the series fresh for two decades.
There’s also the question of player trust. I’ve seen numerous comments from hunters saying they’ll wait months before buying the next Monster Hunter game, wanting to ensure it launches in a playable state. This kind of hesitation could hurt launch sales for future entries, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of underperformance.
Looking ahead to Capcom’s upcoming October showcase, the company needs to address the Monster Hunter Wilds situation directly and outline concrete plans for both fixing the current game and ensuring future releases meet quality standards.
The Path Forward
Despite my criticism, I haven’t given up on Monster Hunter Wilds. The game’s core is still exceptional when it works properly, and Capcom has shown with titles like Street Fighter 6 that they can turn around troubled launches. But the clock is ticking – with each passing month, more players move on to other games, making a comeback increasingly difficult.
What Capcom needs now is a No Man’s Sky-style redemption arc. That means not just fixing bugs but adding substantial free content, implementing community-requested features, and perhaps most importantly, clearly communicating their commitment to making things right. The upcoming holiday season represents their last real chance to salvage Monster Hunter Wilds’ reputation and sales trajectory.
For now, I continue to check in with each patch, hoping to recapture the magic I felt during those first few hunts. But like many in the community, my patience is wearing thin. Monster Hunter Wilds’ sales disappointment isn’t just a financial setback for Capcom – it’s a betrayal of the trust millions of hunters placed in them. And in the gaming industry, trust once lost is incredibly difficult to rebuild.