Monster Hunter Now isn't expected to make money, Capcom has said. This unusual bit of insight into the upcoming title arrives mere weeks after Monster Hunter Now opened a new limited beta test ahead of its full-fledged release.
Originally announced in April, Monster Hunter Now is an AR mobile game from Pokemon GO developer Niantic. Much like the studio's greatest hit to date, its Monster Hunter spin-off promises to combine geolocation-based exploration with action gameplay and resource collection.
And while Pokemon GO isn't as popular as it used to be, the game still made billions of dollars over the past seven years, making Capcom's investors excited about the prospects of Monster Hunter Now. Yet the Japanese company insists that its primary motivation for licensing Monster Hunter to Niantic has nothing to do with the immediate money-making potential of such a move, having said as much during its latest general shareholder meeting. Asked about Capcom's expectations for Monster Hunter Now, a company official revealed that the publisher primarily anticipates the game to boost the series' global brand instead of generate "revenue contributions."
Capcom is not the first Japan-based gaming giant to adopt such a publicity-driven approach to mobile games. Back in December 2022, Nintendo also said its mobile games weren't meant to make money, with one of its officials claiming that titles like Super Mario Run and Mario Kart Tour were primarily developed as marketing tools. Yet that particular sentiment was expressed in defense of Nintendo's declining mobile profits, whereas Capcom seemingly adopted a similar perspective in order to preemptively downplay the commercial expectations for Monster Hunter Now.
For clarity, Capcom is no stranger to mobile development, but most of its past efforts in this space were focused on ports of classic titles such as Mega Man X and the Ace Attorney games. Its latest Monster Hunter mobile game also followed that trend, having materialized in the form of the 2018 port of Monster Hunter Stories, formerly a 3DS exclusive. In contrast, Monster Hunter Now is Capcom's first contemporary attempt at putting out a mobile-only spin-off based on one of its massively popular franchises. So, irrespective of any commercial expectations attached to the project, the circumstances that led to Monster Hunter Now still seem more akin to those surrounding Pokemon GO or even Fire Emblem Heroes than Monster Hunter Stories.
As for Capcom's other near-future plans, its latest shareholder meeting yielded a confirmation that the publisher isn't ruling out the possibility of remaking non-numbered Resident Evil games. A company representative also revealed that Capcom is currently looking into the possibility of reviving the Onimusha series.
Monster Hunter Now launches September 2023 for mobile devices.
Source: Capcom