Monster Hunter series sales climb to 28 million units

The Monster Hunter series, which marks its 10th anniversary in 2014, has now sold more than 28 million units to date, Capcom announced today. This is up from the 26-million-units-sold figure announced in October. The Japanese publisher described the franchise, first released in 2004 on the PlayStation 2, as a "massive hit."

Capcom also announced today that the latest installment in the series, the 3DS game Monster Hunter 4, has shipped more than 4 million units in Japan since its release in September. This figure includes sales of the downloadable version and is up from the 3 million figure announced in October.

The publisher attributed some of the game's success to a variety of promotional efforts, including collaborations with food, beverage, apparel, and other categories outside of the game market. Capcom announced in May that it expected Monster Hunter 4 to sell through 2.8 million copies by the end of its fiscal year in March 2014.

No North American release information for Monster Hunter 4 has been announced, and Capcom has no plans to release the game on the PlayStation Vita.