Monster Hunter Wilds Is Off To An Amazing Start On PC, Smashing Through Several Steam Records

Monster Hunter Wilds has officially launched, and on PC, and it is smashing through several records. At the time of writing, the game has reached over 1.2 million concurrent players on Steam alone--according to Steam's charts--beating the all-time player peak numbers set by the previous two Monster Hunter games by a very wide margin. It's also the second-most-played game on Steam currently, beaten only by Counter-Strike 2, which is a free-to-play game.

In comparison, Monster Hunter World had a peak player-count of 334,684 players on Steam in 2018, while Monster Hunter Rise reached a peak of 231,360 players in 2022. What makes this even more impressive is that Monster Hunter Wilds has beaten the impressive release day records set by Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077, as both of those games reached 1.1 million concurrent players on their respective launch days. This also makes Monster Hunter Wilds only the eighth game in Steam history to break the 1 million concurrent players mark.

Considering that the game is also available through the Epic Games Store on PC and is available on PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, the overall launch day numbers are likely very high for the new Monster Hunter adventure. At the same time, Monster Hunter Wilds does appear to suffer from several optimization issues on PC, and Capcom has recommended that players update their graphics card drivers, turn off compatibility mode, and then readjust settings to get the game running smoothly.

"There are a few missteps along the way--of both an artistic and technical variety--but Wilds is another excellent entry in Capcom's beloved series," Richard Wakeling wrote in GameSpot's Monster Hunter Wilds review. If you're diving into the game, you can also check out our Monster Hunter Wilds guides hub, which is full of helpful features like beginner's tips, recipes, and monster locations.