Monster Hunter Wilds: A Fall from Grace on Steam - Technical Issues and Content Complaints Threaten Future Success
Introduction: Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest addition to Capcom's beloved action RPG franchise, has experienced a significant decline in player numbers since its February 2025 release. The game, which peaked at over 1.38 million concurrent Steam players, has now lost over 98% of its user base. While some players are expected to return with the game's next major update, the trend remains concerning, especially when paired with the fact that Monster Hunter Wilds has recently been subject to review-bombing on Valve's storefront.
The Decline in Player Numbers: The downward trend in player numbers has reached a new low as of late June, with Monster Hunter Wilds' daily concurrent player peaks consistently dropping below 20,000 even during the typically busy Friday-to-Sunday periods. According to SteamDB data, the action RPG peaked at 18,468 concurrent users over the 24-hour period ending June 21. Compared to its late February 2025 peak, Monster Hunter Wilds' player count declined by 98.67%.
The Technical State of the Game: Many complaints from players focus on the game's technical state, with thousands of users criticizing its poor performance across a wide range of hardware configurations, including those that exceed Capcom’s recommended system requirements. While developers often improve performance through post-release updates, some Monster Hunter Wilds players claim the game's technical state has actually worsened over time on their end. This has led to a major review-bombing campaign that saw Monster Hunter Wilds drop to "Overwhelmingly Negative" recent reviews on Steam.
Content Complaints and Expectations: In addition to technical issues, vocal fans have also criticized the slow update cadence and what they see as a limited flow of new content. However, Title Update 2—expected to materialize on June 30—is likely to address at least some of these grievances, potentially reversing the game’s PC player decline, at least temporarily. For comparison, Title Update 1 more than doubled the concurrent Steam player peak following its early April launch, though the increase was short-lived.
Favorable User Reviews on Consoles: While its Steam reviews currently look unenviable, Monster Hunter Wilds still holds much more favorable user ratings on consoles. The Xbox Series X/S version currently holds a 4.3-star score based on over 2,200 player impressions, while more than 60,000 PlayStation Store users have given it an average rating of 4.49 stars. These overall console scores have largely been unchanged since Monster Hunter Wilds' late February launch.
Conclusion: Despite the decline in player numbers and negative reviews on Steam, Monster Hunter Wilds still has a strong following on consoles. However, the game's future success will depend on how well Capcom addresses the technical issues and provides new content to keep players engaged. Only time will tell if Monster Hunter Wilds can recover from its current slump and regain its former glory.
