Monster Hunter Rise is the next entry in Capcom’s long-running franchise, but its status as a Nintendo Switch exclusive has left PS4 owners wondering if they’ll ever get a chance to take it for a spin. Between the wirebug, wyvern riding, and additional quality-of-life adjustments being introduced in Monster Hunter Rise, it’s looking less like a spin-off and more like a genuine successor to Monster Hunter World, which is available on the PS4. So, is Monster Hunter Rise coming to the PS4, or not?
Monster Hunter Rise is unlikely to launch on the PS4, and will remain a Switch console exclusive.
Monster Hunter Rise was announced last year as an exclusive for the Nintendo Switch, and it made sense. PS4 and Xbox owners had been playing Monster Hunter World for a few years up to that point, with Nintendo fans watching enviously from the sidelines. Monster Hunter Rise appeared to be Capcom’s response to that – a Monster Hunter game with all the improvements brought forward by World, but capable of running on Nintendo’s hardware.
We know Monster Hunter Rise is very likely coming to PC next year, but it’s looking like that will be the only platform Monster Hunter Rise will migrate to outside the Nintendo Switch. We’ve seen no leaks detailing a possible PS4 port of the game, and I’d wager Capcom is more interested in developing a Monster Hunter World 2 for the next-generation of PlayStation than they are porting Rise to the PS4.
Think about it: Rise has been built from the ground-up for the Nintendo Switch, meaning the game’s entire design has been developed with the Switch’s limited hardware in mind. Why bring over a “lesser” version of Monster Hunter to the more powerful consoles immediately after World became Capcom’s highest selling game ever? Why not develop a full sequel to World instead for those platforms alongside a new “spin-off” of Monster Hunter that can actually run on the Nintendo Switch? That means Capcom has essentially cleaved the franchise in two, but it makes sense for them to do so.
Monster Hunter has a long and storied history on Nintendo and Sony’s portable platforms, and Sony is unlikely to reenter the portable arena. Rather than try and port over World to the Switch with mixed results, it’s easier for Capcom to develop a Switch spin-off featuring all the lesson’s learned from World. They’ll keep the World subtitle for all future iterations of the game not on the Switch, keeping marketing confusion to a minimum. Monster Hunter Rise is probably not coming to the PS4, but I’d wager Monster Hunter World 2 is in the wings for ye PlayStation faithful.
