It’s been a good week for Monster Hunter. After the staggering success of Monster Hunter Rise on both PC and Switch, the ground was likely primed for the game’s expansion, Sunbreak, to do good numbers. But, even for a series that enjoys as much popularity as Monster Hunter, the attach rate of the DLC is super high.
“Capcom released a demo version prior to launch, garnering praise and attention for the title, which resulted in shipments of over 2 million units globally,” Capcom revealed in a post on its Japanese site.
The press release also notes that Monster Hunter Rise, overall, has now shipped 10 million units. “Further, March 2021 release Rise has also surpassed 10 million units shipped globally, which was achieved through a variety of measures including ongoing free updates and the launch of a PC version, as well as with the release of a set that includes Sunbreak.”
That means that, within one week of launch, 20% of Rise players have picked up Sunbreak. That’s an impressive number of players converted from main game to DLC in under seven days. Stellar reviews – including our own 5-star Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak review – likely contributed to these numbers, as well as the fact that the DLC will recieve more updates going forward.
To contextualise that against other Capcom brands, Devil May Cry 5 sold 2 million in two weeks – the fact an expansion that’s available on fewer platforms can outsell a flagship Capcom series this quickly is notable. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne shipped over 2.8 million digital copies in about a month, too – Sunbreak is no doubt on track to beat out that number.
Rise still has a way to go before hitting the highs of Monster Hunter World, though; that game has been confirmed to have sold a Capcom all-time record of 21 million units shipped. Given World launched on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, it had more platforms to take advantage of. That said, 10 million on just PC and Switch is no mean feat.
“The company will continue to leverage its digital strategy going forward, aiming to maximize unit sales with ongoing promotions, including the continued release of free additional content and pricing strategies,” the publisher concludes in the press release. “Capcom remains firmly committed to satisfying the expectations of all users by leveraging its industry-leading game development capabilities.”
