The first announcement at today’s Nintendo Direct was a “massive expansion” for Monster Hunter Rise. The latest Monster Hunter game was released earlier this year for the Nintendo Switch. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak will be releasing in summer 2022 and is described as a “massive expansion” that will include new locales, monsters, hunts, and quest ranks. There’s no word on pricing for the expansion yet, but if other Nintendo Switch expansions are anything to go by, we could be expecting something in the $20 range. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released two expansions under one expansion pass back in 2017. The Breath of the Wild expansion pack was released in two stages. The first came out in June 2017, with the second part of the expansion pass releasing in December 2017. Although, if the description in the Nintendo Direct indicates anything, this Monster Hunter expansion should be considerably bigger than the ones released for Breath of the Wild.
Nintendo’s Newfound Love for Expansions
Nintendo has released more expansion passes and DLC since the launch of the Nintendo Switch, something the company wasn’t well known for pre-Switch. Nintendo’s close relationship with Capcom since the Monster Hunter series’ moved from Playstation to Nintendo benefitted the company massively with the success of the 3DS. Monster Hunter on the 3DS proved to be a turning point for Nintendo after the 3DS got off to a rocky start back in 2010. The partnership between Nintendo and Capcom appears to be going strong with the recent launch of the Switch exclusive Monster Hunter Rise. Nintendo fans were concerned after the release and popularity of Monster Hunter: World that Nintendo’s consoles wouldn’t receive anymore classic Monster Hunter games. The new Monster Hunter Rise expansion pass should further quell those fears.
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak will release in Summer 2022. Details on pricing are not available yet but expect to hear more details on the expansion over the coming months. Check out the trailer below.
