Today we’re celebrating the release of the fantasy-themed action role-playing video game Monster Hunter Rise on Microsoft’s Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles, and on Windows PC’s, by exploring what a Monster Hunter-themed Metaworld, or Metaverse might look like!
Monster Hunter Rise is the latest instalment in Japanese video game developer and publisher Capcom’s award-winning and top-selling Monster Hunter media franchise. First released as Monster Hunter for the PlayStation 2 in 2004, the series sees players take the role of the eponymous Hunter, use a variety of weapons to slay or trap fantastical and fearsome monsters across various gaming environments.
The Monster Hunter franchise represents a serious intellectual property opportunity for Capcom to exploit in the Metaverse. As of September of last year, the Monster Hunter series had sold a reported 88 million units worldwide, making it Capcom's second best-selling series behind the horror game franchise Resident Evil. 2018’s Monster Hunter: World attracted a global audience and became the best-selling Monster Hunter game within three days of its release. The franchise has also spawned a 2020 live-action movie starring Milla Jovovich, Ron Perlman and Tony Jaa, and a 2021 animated Netflix film.
So what might a Monster Hunter-themed Metaworld, or Metaverse look like? Here at themetabite.com we imagine a standalone, Ready Plyer One-esque, planet-sized Metaworld that depicts the key Monster Hunter continents of the Old World, the untamed wilderness of the New World, and the polar subcontinent Hoarfrost Reach. Players will be able to traverse this post-apocalyptic world either as part of an airship crew, or as a pilot of their very own pimped-out dirigible balloon.
Any Metaverse “Monsterworld” will have to include the series fundamental gaming mechanics, which include gaining loot from slaying monsters, gathering resources, crafting weapons and armour, embarking on quests, and seeking out larger and more fearsome creatures. While players can choose to embark on solo adventures, we expect the greatest draw will be the ability to traverse the world’s continents as part of a group.
Player’s will converge at key settlements, including Monster Hunter Rise’s Kamura Village, or Monster Hunter: World’s Astera, to socialise with like-minded fans, explore Monster Hunter lore and mythology, share hunting tips, and join teams. In addition to giving fans a new way to interact, the Metaverse will provides a whole host of new ways to engage with the Monster Hunter brand. Visitors will be able to compete in competitions, watch, interact, or even star in the Monster Hunter movies, listen to, or compose, Monster Hunter, or Monster Hunter-inspired music.
Visitors will be able to visit their local Smithy to forge, or upgrade non-fungible token (NFT)-based digital assets, such as Monster Hunter-based avatar costumes, or weapons, like a close-combat Great Sword, Long Sword, or Dual Blades, or long-range weapons such as Bow and Bowguns. Fans will even be able to buy physical replicas of their favourite weapons or monsters, including the Monster Hunter Rise’s wyvern Magnamalo, using the in game currency (Zenny). These will also be able to be purchased as physical assets in the realworld, alongside other exclusive Monster Hunter merchandise.
In future expansions, the work by Monster Hunter denizens to study the ruins of a long-past advanced civilization may allow them to advance past their pre-industrial level of technology, becomes a space-faring race and start to explore a wider Monster Hunter-themed Metaverse. Capcom then have the option to expand their universe, with Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Devil May Cry Metaworlds!
Don’t forget to leave a comment below!
