What is the history of Monster Hunter?

Twenty-two years, six generations, one idea that never changed: learn the animal, then fight it.

Monster Hunter began on the PlayStation 2 in March 2004 as a modest online experiment and became, by the 2020s, one of the best-selling series in video game history, with cumulative sales passing 100 million units in 2024 and roughly 132 million by the autumn of 2026. Its history falls into three acts: a Japanese handheld phenomenon the West barely saw, a long Nintendo decade, and a global console era that began with World in 2018.

What carried it through every platform change is the loop invented in 2004: hunt a monster, carve it, wear it, hunt a bigger one. There are no experience levels for your hunter. The gear is the growth, and the knowledge is yours.

Monster Hunter 2 Dos box art — **ACT ONE**Monster Hunter 2 (Dos, 2006), from the quiet PS2 years — the original, G and Dos, where the loop and its flagship Rathalos were already complete.

THE ROAD

2004 to today

Act one · The PS2 experiment, 2004–2006

The original, its expansion G, and the Japan-only Dos sold quietly. None of the three ever made Capcom’s million-seller list, but the formula, and its flagship Rathalos, were already complete.

Act two · The PSP phenomenon, 2005–2010

On the PSP the series became a Japanese social event: Freedom Unite was the best-selling game of 2008 in Japan, and Portable 3rd the fastest-selling PSP title the country had seen. The West received delayed, renamed ports and mostly missed it.

Act three · The Nintendo decade, 2009–2017

Tri on Wii, then the 3DS years: 3 Ultimate, 4, Generations. The audience grew steadily in the West while Japan stayed handheld-loyal, and the games refined verticality, mounting, and customisation.

Act four · World, 2018

The first simultaneous worldwide launch, on home consoles and PC, turned the series global. World became Capcom’s best-selling single title of all time, around 30 million copies including its Master Edition.

Act five · Rise and Wilds, 2021–2025

Rise carried the series past 20 million on its own; Wilds opened as the fastest-selling game in Capcom’s history, ten million copies in its first month, and brought cross-play and a seamless, weather-driven wilderness.

The constant

Every generation changed the stage. None changed the contract: the monster is an animal with habits, the hunt is a study, and the reward is made out of the thing you defeated.