Monster Hunter Now is fast approaching its half-year anniversary and Niantic is taking that opportunity to launch celebratory content and update some game mechanics. Most crucially, during Part 1 of the celebration, monster spawns will be increased, appearing in more places and more frequently - respawning after one hour instead of three.

This means players will be able to take on at least triple the usual amount of hunts. Considering Monster Hunter Now’s monetisation largely revolves around buying healing items, offering players more opportunities to fight monsters (and suffer the consequences) is an ingenious way of providing more content, boosting playtime and having a knock-on increase in spending all at once.

Given the game’s fall in in-app revenue this past month - having only generated $12 million by App Magic data, down from $31 million in its launch month and an impressive $100 million in its first quarter - the gameplay tweak and anniversary content couldn’t come at a better time, offering the chance for a second wind.

Monetising and celebrating

Part 1 of the celebration kicks off during the first week of March and will include the sale of limited-time packs. These will contain various hunting resources such as paintballs and Hunt-A-Thon tickets: a more direct monetisation tactic than the potion strategy. The packs include potions too, but with the number of monsters due to appear there are bound to be many players needing to buy more if they want to play optimally through the event.

After all, if a player’s HP is too low they can’t participate in hunts and must either wait for it to restore over time (a soft stamina system) or use a potion.

The development team is also going to implement adjustments to story quests to help newer players get up to speed quickly, opening up more monster variety as unlocked through story progression. They will have to progress quickly to encounter the Barioth however - a winter-exclusive monster due to depart from the game on March 14.

Anniversaries ahoy

Meanwhile on March 11, Capcom's franchise as a whole will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Naturally Now has content planned to celebrate this milestone too, with exclusive event quests, materials to earn, a Monster Hunter 20th Anniversary Medal to unlock and more - conveniently combining two celebrations in one.

Part 2 of the celebration launches on Now’s half-year anniversary and will run until March 24. Full details of this second half are expected at a later date, but Niantic has teased a major update titled "The Vernal Invader", due to bring more monsters, weapons, and "a few other surprises".

The next new subspecies is also due to appear during this event, starting on March 25, one day before Monster Hunter Rise’s third anniversary. And while Now has primarily featured monsters first introduced in 2018’s Monster Hunter World, with next month’s focus on anniversary content there is cause to speculate Now’s expansion into Rise monsters, given the timing.

"As well as our second major update, The Vernal Invader, we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Monster Hunter series and the half-anniversary of Monster Hunter Now with the Monster Hunter Now Celebration 2024 and other events. Get ready to join the hunt this spring!" the Monster Hunter Now team said.

Whether the limited-time celebration packs and increase in content can boost Now’s revenue back up to its late 2023 levels remains to be seen, but it should be noted that Niantic’s web store push may also be impacting Now’s perceived earnings; App Magic’s suggested $12 million in the past 30 days is based on in-app spending and doesn’t account for web stores, where Niantic is increasingly encouraging its playerbase.