Sony published the PS Store’s monthly download rankings via the Japanese PlayStation Blog on April 15. According to the report, Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World was the most downloaded PS4 title in Japan during March 2024, topping new PS4-compatible releases such as Unicorn Overlord.

Monster Hunter: World released in January 2018. While it was the fifth installment in the Monster Hunter series, it was the first to get a simultaneous worldwide release, thus contributing greatly to the series’ overseas popularity. The RPG launched to positive reception and sold five million units within the first three days of release, quickly becoming one of Capcom’s fastest-selling titles.

However, despite the game being past its 6-year anniversary, it still seems to be attracting new players in 2024. During the holiday season, Monster Hunter: World saw larger concentrations of concurrent players than in 2020 (source: SteamDB). Additionally, Capcom commented on March 12 for The Yomiuri Shimbun that Monster Hunter: World has surpassed 25 million units sold, breaking the company’s record for a single title’s sales. The company further mentioned that sales of the title were strong, especially in emerging markets.

Monster Hunter: World’s popularity reigniting likely has a lot to do with Capcom’s announcement of Monster Hunter: Wilds in December 2023. The latest installment in the series, planned to release in 2025, will be a “next generation” take on the franchise, and the impressive reveal trailer no doubt got a lot of players nostalgic for some Monster Hunter action.

On the other hand, among the surprised reactions to the recently published PS Store download rankings, some Japanese users have suggested that famous VTubers may also be contributing to the Monster Hunter: World boom. Indeed, there have been several influential Hololive streamers who started playing Monster Hunter: World for the first time in the past month or two, such as Usada Pekora (2.48M subscribers), Houshou Marine (3.13M subscribers) and Sakura Miko (2.01 susbscribers).

Monster Hunter: World is available for the PC (Steam), PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Monster Hunter: Wilds is planned to release in 2025 for the PC (Steam), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|