User:FrogBiz/Monster Hunter
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Globalization
[edit]Monster Hunter being a series that's spanned the course of over 20 years has come a long way. Mechanics have come and gone, such as underwater combat in MH3U or prowler mode in MHGU, graphics have evolved from the days of the PS2 era to the modern next gen equivalent, many more monsters have been introduced to the series, now totaling 331 unique monsters according to the Monster Hunter Wiki (a relatively recently developed website to catalogue Monster Hunter information). [1] Originally, Monster Hunter only truly saw success in Japan and remained niche to the audiences of the wider world. For example, Monster Hunter: Freedom, the overseas release of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, had a dismal 14% of the sales of the title, as opposed to the Japanese release at 86%. [2] This was primarily attributed to insufficient localization efforts, an unintuitive experience for overseas players, comparatively weak overseas marketing, and a difference of preference between local and online multiplayer with the Japanese and overseas audiences. However, through bolstered localization efforts (such as the creation of the localization director position, [3]), the addition of online multiplayer, increased accessibility to new players and better targeted marketing among other things, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate saw the greatest overseas success of any title before its release. Fujioka even stated how the addition of online gameplay was a massive impact on its overseas success. [4] Because of this, it was Monster Hunter's first major step onto the worldwide stage. Even considering MH4U's great success relative to its predecessors, it was the 5th and now 6th generation editions (Monster Hunter: World/Iceborne, Monster Hunter: Rise/Sunbreak, Monster Hunter: Wilds) that allowed Monster Hunter to truly see global success. Capcom made many efforts to bring Monster Hunter to Western audiences and finally found success with the release of Monster Hunter: World, having sold 28.1 million copies as of December 2024 [5] and having finally, truly broken through to the Western market and establishing a new foothold for the series across the world. During the 2018 Tokyo Game Show, Ryozo Tsujimoto stated how Monster Hunter: World was developed under the concept that people all over still experience the same feelings the same way, that these experiences are universal. It was designed with the worldwide audience in mind. [2] Even from its conception it was meant for the world, lining up well with its name. Its name has other significance too, rather than being titled Monster Hunter 5, it was instead called Monster Hunter: World to come across as more accessible to people who've never played a Monster Hunter game before, if a prospective player sees the title "Monster Hunter 5" it may lead them to believe that they're far behind with 4 titles preceding it, that they can't get the same experience just jumping in at the fifth game and so they pass it by. [6]
[edit]Taking Monster Hunter Worldwide
[edit]“Taking Monster Hunter Worldwide” was a production by Capcom at the 30th edition GDC in 2016 with speaker Andrew Alfonso, who was a localization director who worked for Capcom. He talks about how he and how Capcom tackle the challenges involved in localization, focusing on Monster Hunter: 4 Ultimate, as the main example. He explains how the position of localization director was created while Capcom was still developing the first Dragon’s Dogma game, and how that was what vastly improved Capcom’s performance in terms of the localization of its titles. He makes a point saying how the main goal of the localization team was to make it so that a game made in Japan, where Capcom is based, won’t feel like it’s a “Japanese game” that ideally they want “a game that doesn’t feel like it’s been localized…” for example: Alfonso explained how the team doesn’t want German players (Germany being the example and replaceable with anywhere else aside from Japan) to feel like it’s a game made in Japan for Japanese players translated into German, “… we want them to feel have a feeling like you know wow Capcom developed this game in Germany for the German user.” [3] Alfonso explains some of the localization team’s proposals to make the game more accessible for Western players. One proposal is about how in 4U, the Japanese title had beginning hunts that were, to list the example he himself presented, “Deliver 5 Wild Mushrooms” and he explained how while that’s fine however, in a game called Monster Hunter for beginning quests to not involve any monster hunting could mess with the game’s early pacing. His proposal to fix this was to combine multiple of these miniature gathering quests together with a little bit of hunting too, his example for the Western alternative was “Deliver 5 Mushrooms + Collect 10 Honey + Hunt 10 Jaggis” to have a much more condensed tutorial and so the player can experience this gathering aspect and dip their toes into the meat and potatoes of the hunting/combat aspect right away. Another proposal presented how the hunter notes in the Japanese version were full of “useless text” and to instead replace this with “hints and damage maps of monsters in-game to educate… fans.” [3] so that the localized version would give helpful information to help those familiar and unfamiliar with Monster Hunter learn more about the game. Alfonso also explains how working with existing aspects of the game and refining them for better quality of life features is an easy way to make the localized game feel more natural, examples given include “Fast forward through dialogue” and “ Hide Palico messages online,” [3] small tweaks that reduce information overload and allow players to read or get through dialogue at their desired pace. One change that was made for the West’s localization was to include more optional dialogue for novices and beginners who are unfamiliar with Monster Hunter, making it easier to learn and therefore love, it’s harder to hook someone into something if they find it confusing or flat out don’t understand it after all. Another change wasn’t even in the game itself but rather to Capcom’s promotion of Monster Hunter on social media with the “#DidYouKnowMH” campaign. The Japanese account would give “daily tidbits of information plus screenshots. Most tidbits are for mid-level players.” This meant that these posts were more so geared towards pre-existing players rather than new or potential players, so they weren’t designed to pull in new players or even help to establish the shakier new player base. So the Western Monster Hunter Twitter account instead posted “7-15 sec videos instead of screenshots” this made for more engaging and educational content, as people who hadn’t played or had just begun to play Monster Hunter could see these posts and get hooked, while also more easily showing what’s being done in the video so the viewer knows exactly how to replicate what is shown. These posts also included “More tips for beginners… Hashtag for easier searches… [and] RT/Like gamification means hardcore and beginners can participate.” [3] They were much better geared towards supporting and drawing in many of the West’s new players while also increasing engagement with their hardcore players, it’s a win-win with both target player demographics. For the key takeaways he listed how users should feel “at home” in the game, how localization directors are important figures in entering otherwise unexplored and differing markets, how you should adapt to your coworkers rather than expecting them to adapt to you, and finally, to focus on what changes can be made that are doable and easy to implement with easy to see results rather than that which is strictly obvious. [3]
[edit]- ^ "Main Page". Monster Hunter Wiki. 2025-04-01. Retrieved 2025-04-28."Main Page". Monster Hunter Wiki. 2025-04-01. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ a b Japan, Frontline Gaming (2018-09-21). "Monster Hunter: World - Global Game Business Summit Presentation (TGS2018)". Frontline Gaming Japan. Retrieved 2025-04-28.Japan, Frontline Gaming (2018-09-21). "Monster Hunter: World - Global Game Business Summit Presentation (TGS2018)". Frontline Gaming Japan. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ a b c d e f "Taking Monster Hunter Worldwide". gdcvault.com. Retrieved 2025-04-28."Taking Monster Hunter Worldwide". gdcvault.com. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ Clark, Willie (2016-02-13). "How Monster Hunter finally found success in the United States". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2025-04-28.Clark, Willie (2016-02-13). "How Monster Hunter finally found success in the United States". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ "Monster Hunter World total unit sales 2024". Statista. Retrieved 2025-04-28."Monster Hunter World total unit sales 2024". Statista. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ Stark, Chelsea (2017-11-01). "Why Monster Hunter: World isn't called Monster Hunter 5". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-04-29.Stark, Chelsea (2017-11-01). "Why Monster Hunter: World isn't called Monster Hunter 5". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-04-29.