If the embed goes extinct, the release date trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGmqAYtKin0
For twenty-odd years, hunting monsters the Capcom way has required a console, a comfy chair and the sort of free weekend that ends with you realising you have spent nine hours trying to farm one specific scale. Monster Hunter Outlanders wants to put all of that in your pocket. The open-world survival hunter, built by Tencent’s TiMi Studio Group under licence from Capcom, launched worldwide on iOS and Android today, with the servers switching on at 10pm UK time last night. That is the right hour for it. Nobody has ever said, “I’ll just do one quick hunt before bed,” and been telling the truth.
The setting is Aesoland, an island whose wildlife has been mutated into tougher “Radiant” versions of familiar beasts, and which is home to a brand-new Elder Dragon called Ruger Aidal. You can hunt alone or in a party of up to four, gather and craft, and build your own launchers, ziplines and gliding stations, because nothing improves a monster’s day quite like being dive-bombed by a man on a hang-glider. At launch there are eight weapon types, including the Great Sword, Long Sword, Dual Blades, Hammer, Lance, Heavy Bowgun, Bow and Charge Blade. The Palico is back, joined by two new buddies, Trillan and Rutaco, who presumably also do their own washing up.
The bit that will split the faithful is that you don’t build your own hunter. Instead, you play weapon-linked characters called Adventurers, and you recruit them through gacha-style pulls. The game is free to play with paid content, which the developers confirmed when it was announced back in November 2024. Anyone who has spent years carefully choosing a hunter’s eyebrows may find that a bit much. On the other hand, more than five million people pre-registered, which suggests a fair few are prepared to let the Recruitment Tickets decide.
TiMi is no stranger to taking big console franchises mobile, with Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokémon Unite already on its CV, and producer Dong Huang promised at the announcement that “it’s time for mobile players to fully enjoy what makes Monster Hunter one of the most beloved franchises in gaming”. Capcom says the series has now sold 131 million copies, so the mobile market was always going to be the next herd to stalk. Level Infinite publishes the game in North America, Europe and Japan, Garena handles South-East Asia, and a mainland China version follows in 2027.
There is partial controller support at launch, which is wise. The Great Sword has always been a weapon of patience and timing. Trying to charge one up with your thumb on a cracked phone screen while the train goes into a tunnel is a new kind of hunt altogether.
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