(Image credit: Capcom)

Anticipation for Monster Hunter Wilds has reached such a fever pitch that it’s release is seemingly causing large waves of people to feel too unwell to work. (Shh.)

At least, that seems to be the case at Palworld developer Pocketpair as the company just announced that all employees can have February 28 off work to recover from their sudden/upcoming/pre-planned illnesses that just so happen to coincide with Monster Hunter Wilds release date.

“For some reason, we have received reports from many employees that they might feel unwell tomorrow, so tomorrow has been designated as a special holiday,” the studio wrote on social media. That “special holiday” will probably be spent recovering with some tea, right? It has nothing to do with slaying big beasts and turning their hides into evermore durable leather pants, right? Right.

In all seriousness, Monster Hunter Wilds is set to have a massive launch. Its open betas sometimes pulled in more than half a million concurrent players on PC alone, and when early reviews proclaimed it one of the best games of the year, Capcom’s moreish action game also rocketed up Steam’s best-selling games chart a full week before release. Not to mention the fact that its predecessor, Monster Hunter World, has also moved more than 20 million copies. So, yeah, some people might be feeling a little sick soo- cough cough – I think I’m catching it too (editor’s note: same, actually).

Elsewhere in the Palworldworld, Pocketpair’s new publishing arm got absolutely swamped after just one week as over 150 game pitches were quickly sent over. And that’s all happening while Nintendo and the Pokemon Company’s lawsuit rumbles on in the background.