Capcom spent a long time getting Monster Hunter Wilds to run at a stable 30 frames per second on Switch 2, and now the company is explaining why it took so long. In an interview with Kotaku, producer Genki Sunano described the effort as “painstaking, and at times seemingly endless.”
The game launches on Switch 2 on 5th December with all its free DLC updates, including new monsters, plus local co-op support that hearkens back to the old Gathering Hall days on PSP and 3DS. The port also brings back the ability to play together face-to-face, a feature longtime players will remember fondly.
Sunano’s Goal
Sunano told Kotaku that the Switch 2 version was built with a specific idea in mind. “The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Monster Hunter Wilds was developed around the concept of delivering a natural Monster Hunter Wilds experience on Nintendo Switch 2,” he said. “In other words, we didn’t want it to feel like a simple port, where the graphics or performance had merely been scaled down to make the game run on Nintendo Switch 2.”
His goal was to bring the same experience people have had on PC or console to Switch 2 “without compromising the experience of Monster Hunter Wilds.”
The Painstaking Work
Sunano described the actual work as a slow, careful process. “It was this painstaking, and at times seemingly endless, process of making decisions and optimisations one by one that proved to be one of our biggest challenges in delivering a comfortable handheld experience while preserving what makes Wilds feel like Wilds,” he said.
The result is a stable frame rate. The game runs at a solid 30FPS in handheld mode, even during demanding multiplayer hunts.
What Took So Long
The Switch 2 version is not a simple copy-and-paste job. Capcom had to rebuild parts of the game to fit the smaller machine. That involved a lot of small, careful changes rather than one big fix.
Sunano’s description suggests the team made decisions and optimizations one by one, which took time and patience. He framed the challenge as balancing performance with the core identity of the game.
The Road Ahead
Capcom plans to apply what it learned from this project to future versions of the game. The company said it will use the knowledge and expertise gained from the Switch 2 work to improve performance on existing platforms before the release of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, the massive new content update expected sometime in 2027.
That means players on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S may see performance gains from the work done on Switch 2. The Switch 2 version itself will be the test case for those improvements.
The Trade-Off
The Switch 2 version trades lush visuals and smooth performance for the ease of playing on the go. Players who have seen the game perform well on PS5 Pro will be weighing whether the handheld convenience is worth giving up some visual polish.
Sunano’s own curiosity is on record. “I’m curious to see how the final game runs on Switch 2: I like how it performs and looks on my PS5 Pro, and I’m wondering if I’ll be able to trade in the lush visuals and buttery performance for the ease of slaying hundreds of Rathalos on the go.”
He confirmed he will be picking up a copy on Switch 2 either way, but admitted the jury is still out on where his “home” for the game will be come December.
What We Know So Far
Here is what Capcom has confirmed about the Switch 2 version:
- It launches 5th December with all free DLC updates and new monsters included.
- Local co-op returns, letting friends play face-to-face again.
- The game runs at a stable 30FPS in handheld mode.
- Performance improvements from this project will be applied to other platforms before the Ascendance update.
- Capcom describes the development as “painstaking, and at times seemingly endless.”
Capcom’s eventual goal is to “surpass” the dizzying heights of Monster Hunter World and its popularity. With the upcoming expansion, Ascendance, all hands are on deck.
The Switch 2 version of Monster Hunter Wilds is a measured, deliberate port. Capcom wanted it to feel like the real deal, not a scaled-down shadow of the PC and console versions. That meant working through a long, careful process of optimization one step at a time.
The result is a game that runs steadily at 30FPS in handheld mode. Whether that is enough to justify the trade-off is a question each player will answer for themselves.
For now, the Switch 2 version looks like a solid, reliable way to hunt Rathalos on the go. The jury on where it lands as the definitive version of the game will likely remain out until after the launch.
Source material: “Monster Hunter Wilds on Switch 2 runs at a stable 30FPS, but it took Capcom a "painstaking, seemingly endless process" to get there,” Eurogamer.
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