Monster Hunter Rise's expansion, Sunbreak, was recently rated by the ESRB ahead of its scheduled June release date. This is the first major expansion for Monster Hunter Rise, with Capcom likely measuring its success to decide if it wants to create more content for this entry in one of its most popular franchises.
While the Monster Hunter series was slowly rising in popularity, the release of Monster Hunter World in 2018 was the big leap forward the franchise took in attracting new players. Monster Hunter World ended up selling over 16 million copies as of this writing, with its expansion, Iceborne, selling over 5.8 million units itself. The streamlining of some of Monster Hunter's mechanics and the support of better online matchmaking on home consoles led to a breakthrough for the series.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, will be rated T by the ESRB, just as most Monster Hunter games in the series are rated. The ESRB cites, "Blood, violence, and alcohol references," for its rating of Sunbreak. The act of monster hunting explains the first two, and Monster Hunter canteens are frequent hangout spots for hunters before their quests. Hunters will usually grab a bite to eat in their favorite restaurant prior to departing on their hunt.
For anyone who is looking for more information on what Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak's content consists of can check out the Monster Hunter Digital Event video, where Capcom went into detail on what players can expect out of Sunbreak when it releases in June. The expansion features a new hub town, new and returning monsters, new maps, new Wirebugs, and more tools for Palicoes and Palamutes.
Monster Hunter Rise initially released on the Nintendo Switch to strong opening week sales, especially in Japan. Japan is the big stronghold for Monster Hunter sales, as the series has been popular there for a long time. Monster Hunter's popularity outside of Japan slowly rose through the 3DS era when new mainline Monster Hunter games released almost exclusively on the console. It took the move back to home consoles on PS4 and Xbox One to bring in fresh faces to the Monster Hunter universe.
Monster Hunter Rise recently had a new update that includes weekly quests that players can undertake. These new updates are nice, but Capcom is likely just biding its time to keep players interested with small updates until Sunbreak is ready for release. Monster Hunter Rise players only have to wait a few more months in order to get some substantial new content.
Monster Hunter Rise is available now for PC and Switch, and Sunbreak will release on June 30.
