There’s no denying that Capcom has hit two different home runs in the Monster Hunter series over the past few years. The runaway success of both Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise have apparently now inspired Microsoft to task a studio with developing a Microsoft Monster Hunter clone, according to rumors.
While nothing has actually been confirmed yet (though at least one writer can supposedly confirm the news), there are various rumors that the studio Creative Affinity, which had previously helped to support Halo and Call of Duty games, will be working on Project Suerte, supposedly the codename for this new game. Creative Affinity had previously posted job listings to help the studio with a Triple-A action-oriented multiplayer title.
Microsoft has been doing very well the past few years, with many of its acquired studios making much-anticipated games such as Redfall, Starfield, Hellblade 2, State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark, and more. Recently, they also got a taste of Monster Hunter’s success when that game finally released on PC several weeks ago.
A Microsoft Monster Hunter clone could do well in getting at the sort of money that Capcom essentially has a monopoly on; Monster Hunter is widespread enough that few other developers have attempted the “hunt giant monsters” angle in any serious capacity. The last attempt was Turtle Rock Studios’ Evolve back in 2014, which quickly folded after backlash over its huge number of microtransactions and snail-pace content updates.
Of course, the success of such a project isn’t guaranteed. While a competitor to Monster Hunter might do well, it would have to provide things Monster Hunter doesn’t, and be just as fun to play and competently made as a Monster Hunter game is. While Rise being only available on PC and Switch would be a point in the game’s favor, it remains to be seen just how good Creative Affinity will be at fulfilling those requirements.
We’ll likely learn more about the Microsoft Monster Hunter clone at some big gaminge vent later this year, if it’s ready by then. In the meantime, all we can really do is speculate.