Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance
2027
About this game
My feelings about Monster Hunter Wilds have been complicated from the start. When it launched in February 2025 and sold eight million copies in three days - becoming the fastest-selling entry in franchise history - I was right there with everyone else, absolutely gripped. The world, the weather system, the monster behaviour, the sheer visual spectacle of it all. But then the endgame arrived and something deflated. The difficulty curve felt too forgiving for veteran hunters, performance on PC was genuinely rough for a while, and the endgame felt thinner than Iceborne or Sunbreak left me expecting. Post-launch updates helped significantly, and the later Arch-tempered fights finally gave the game some teeth, but there was always the feeling that the full Monster Hunter Wilds experience was still a year or two away. Well. That year is nearly up. Capcom revealed Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance at Summer Game Fest 2026 on June 5, targeting a 2027 release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam. And in keeping with the tradition established by Iceborne and Sunbreak before it, this is not a small content drop. Capcom are calling it a "massive expansion" - and based on everything shown in the reveal trailer, that descriptor feels earned. The centrepiece of the expansion is a brand new biome called the Skybound Eyrie - floating islands suspended above the clouds, dotted with ancient ruins and structures connected to Wyverian civilisation. The floating landmasses were apparently kept aloft using ancient technology, and the whole region has an otherworldly atmosphere that's a dramatic contrast to the grounded, weather-beaten ecosystems of the base game. To navigate between the islands, players will mount their Seikret and catch powerful updrafts, gliding freely across the vertical landscape. It's the kind of setting change that immediately makes you want to see every corner of it. The story of Ascendance centres on a sudden catastrophic surge of Elder Dragons, and the expansion director Takuro Hiraoka confirmed in an interview that Elder Dragons are the primary narrative focus this time around - a deliberate contrast to the base game, which leaned more heavily on Guardian monsters and environmental spectacle. Two confirmed returning monsters have already sent the community into overdrive. Kushala Daora - the steel-hide Elder Dragon known for its wind manipulation - is back and shown in the trailer hurling a pack of Doshaguma around like litter, which is a pretty clear statement about how powerful these things are going to feel. And then at the trailer's end, the teased silhouette that stopped everyone in their tracks: Lao-Shan Lung, the legendary mountain-sized Elder Dragon making its first living appearance in nearly a decade since Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. Its return comes with an updated version of the classic Siege map - a fortress that hunters must defend as the colossal creature attempts to walk straight through it. I cannot overstate how much this reveal meant to people who've been playing this series for years. Combat is also getting a meaningful addition through the Boost Bracer - a new piece of equipment available across all 14 weapon types that temporarily supercharges attack actions, combos, and mobility. Think of it as a mode you activate mid-hunt that opens up flashier, more aggressive plays. A Great Sword user was shown in the trailer revving up the bracer almost Red Queen-style, which immediately caught everyone's attention. The developers have confirmed it changes how each weapon plays in Ascendance specifically, which is a significant enough mechanical shift that it should shake up established playstyles rather than just tacking extra damage onto existing ones. Master Rank returns as the difficulty ceiling, accessible after completing the Rank 7 High Rank assignment Awaking From a Dream - the familiar gating system that ensures players have a meaningful skill baseline before stepping into the expansion's hunts. Capcom also quietly confirmed that both the base game and Ascendance are in development for Nintendo Switch 2, which is a significant platform expansion for the franchise. Monster Hunter Wilds needed this. Everything shown suggests Ascendance is exactly what it should be - the full realisation of what Wilds was always building toward. 2027 can't come fast enough.
