Monster Hunter Outlanders opens pre-registrations with Elder Dragon Ruger Aidal unveiled

• Monster Hunter Outlanders has opened pre-registrations on the App Store and Google Play.
• The game's "first original Elder Dragon" is called Ruger Aidal.

Pre-registrations have opened for Monster Hunter Outlanders as the title undergoes its third closed beta test.

Developed by TiMi Studio Group with a license from Capcom, Monster Hunter Outlanders marks the Monster Hunter series’ latest expansion onto mobile, this time targeting a "traditional hunting experience" akin to console and PC releases.

Fans can pre-register for the mobile exclusive now on the App Store and Google Play, almost two years on from the game’s initial reveal.

Fully fledged flagship

Monster Hunter Outlanders was previously described as "apart from other mobile games" in the series.

Scopely Explore’s Monster Hunter Now, for example, serves as an AR-based geolocation title featuring established monsters from across the franchise. Capcom’s in-house Monster Hunter Puzzles: Felyne Isles serves as a match-3 monster-battler with classics like Rathalos.

Meanwhile, Outlanders promises open-world gameplay and at least one original monster. New Elder Dragon Ruger Aidal was revealed during Gamescom, designed to resemble the sun, appearing in golden light and releasing bursts of heat to scorch the landscape.

Players will have the chance to face the imposing beast and discover its connection to the mysteries of Aesoland upon release.

Ruger Aidal was also confirmed to be "the first original Elder Dragon to appear in Monster Hunter Outlanders" and the game’s flagship monster. In the Monster Hunter series, flagship is a title prescribed to a new creature with an important presence in its debut game, typically appearing on box art.

Outlanders featuring its own flagship further reinforces its "fully fledged" Monster Hunter game status, therefore.

Monster Hunter World’s flagship Nergigante has also been confirmed among the lineup, as have Barroth, Kulu-Ya-Yu, Kushala Daora and others.

The game will be published by Garena and is being developed specifically for mobile play. Outside the closed beta tests, Gamescom attendees also had the chance to try a hands-on demo with the title last week.