Capcom and Niantic have announced that pre-registration is open for the upcoming title Monster Hunter Now, which will release on September 14.

The Monster Hunter franchise has amassed almost 100 million sales, becoming Capcom’s second-most popular franchise after Resident Evil. This success led to the release of a film based on the series in 2020.

Monster Hunter now follows in the footsteps of Niantic’s prior hits, such as Pokemon Go, and will see players fighting monsters in the real world through the use of augmented reality. The launch will have thirteen monsters available, including the likes of Anjanath, Barroth, and Legiana, as well as six weapons including bows, hammers, and greatswords.

Brave new frontiers

The companies are aiming for a total of five million pre-registrations through the use of numerous incentives, ranging from potions and paintballs at the first milestone (500,000) to 10,000 of in-game currency and item box expansions at five million.

Japan - Capcom’s homeland - has long been one of the biggest markets for console gaming, however it’s been somewhat slow to adopt mobile gaming. The use of such a popular IP, taking gameplay cues from one of the biggest mobile games in history and developed with one of its biggest players leaves it well positioned for the future. Although Capcom has previously seen some success with games based on its IPs and developed by third parties, mobile remains a relatively small part of its business.

AR gaming itself is slowly growing in popularity. While Pokemon Go continues to be the dominant player in the sector, major tech companies such as Sony and Apple are investing heavily in the development of extended reality technology, and as such there’s still room for further growth, and it’s clear that Capcom is along for the ride.

We listed Niantic as one of the top 50 mobile game makers of 2022. We’ll be unveiling our list for 2023 in the coming months.