In the lead-up to the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, a second open beta for the game has been announced – but it has one big problem that might hurt the game’s full release. Set for release on February 28, Monster Hunter Wilds is the newest of the “modern” Monster Hunter series, which started with the 2018 release of Monster Hunter: World – a game which massively increased the series’ mainstream popularity outside of Japan, and was also the first mainline game in the series to get a PC release.

With Monster Hunter now serving as one of developer Capcom’s flagship franchises, more eyes than ever are on the series’ upcoming release – the first beta for Wilds had a higher peak player count on Steam than both Worlds and Rise. Unfortunately, however, the attention drawn by the game’s open betas might turn out to be a double-edged sword, as the poor optimization of Wilds‘ first beta already has many players cautious about the full release, and the second beta is going to run into the same issues again.

Monster Hunter Wilds’ New Beta Won’t Have Upgraded Performance

Improved Performance Has Been Promised For Wilds’ Full Release, But Won’t Be In The Second Beta

Along with the announcement of a second open beta for Wilds, which will run from February 6 to February 9, and again from February 13 to February 16, it’s also been announced by the official Monster Hunter X (formerly Twitter) account that the beta unfortunately will not include any of the promised improvements from the original playtest in November 2024. Importantly, this means that the second beta will retain the same poor performance as the first, which could cause a repeat of the backlash that the game already faced in November.

Performance changes won’t be the only thing missing from the second Wilds beta either, as a developer post on Steam detailed significant gameplay changes, including additional hitstop and updates to multiple weapon types, which also won’t be included in the second beta. As a result, the playtest, which will take place only shortly before Wilds releases in full later in the same month, won’t be an entirely accurate portrayal of the full game, and could be a misleading representation of what to expect.

Poor Performance Might Drive Players Away From Wilds’ Full Release

Wilds’ Second Beta Might Spark Backlash In The Same Month As Its Launch

Unfortunately, while the stated intent of the second beta is to give players who missed the first playtest a chance to play, the lack of improvements (besides the inclusion of Gypceros) means that it could be a disaster in the making for Wilds. Players who’ve been following the game closely will know that Capcom has promised significant improvements for the full release, but the majority of players tend to miss that kind of news, and an unoptimized beta so close to the game’s full release will drive the perception that no improvements have been made.

Importantly, even for players who are in the know, it’s discouraging that there’s no way to be certain about how Wilds will perform on day one of release, and those who have a bad experience in either beta period will be more likely to hold off on buying the game. So far, the game’s developers have only said that a hardware benchmark tool for the full release is “under consideration.” With nothing confirmed, there’s a distinct possibility that players will be going into the full release with little to no information about what to expect in terms of optimization.

Of course, the creation of a new, stable, build for the second beta could potentially have demanded more resources to an extent that would’ve detracted from the development of the full game – if that’s the case, then focusing efforts on the full release is probably the better move. However, with the second beta likely to spark more backlash, a short two weeks before the full release of Monster Hunter Wilds, it might have been a better move to avoid releasing it at all.