Monster Hunter Wilds Dev Capcom Is Trying to Tame Beastly PC Requirements

With Monster Hunter Wilds' February 28th release approaching, Capcom is actively investigating ways to reduce the recommended GPU specifications.

This announcement, originating from the official German Monster Hunter X/Twitter account, also hints at the potential release of a dedicated PC benchmarking tool.

Currently, Capcom suggests an Nvidia GTX 1660 Super or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT for achieving 30 FPS at 1080p. This minimum configuration necessitates a 720p internal resolution, upscaling to 1080p via DLSS or FSR at the lowest graphical settings.

For a smoother 60 FPS experience at 1080p with upscaling and frame generation technologies, Capcom cites the RTX 2070 Super, RTX 4060, or AMD RX 6700 XT as examples. However, it's worth noting that only the RTX 4060 natively supports Nvidia Frame Generation; the 2070 Super and 6700 XT rely on FSR 3, which, as noted in the previous beta, exhibited ghosting artifacts.

Targeting 60 FPS with frame generation isn't always optimal. Digital Foundry suggests a 40 FPS baseline for third-person games. Running below 60 FPS with upscaling can introduce noticeable latency and negatively impact responsiveness.

The open beta revealed performance challenges for players with lower-end hardware, including mid-range cards like the RTX 3060, particularly a low-LOD bug affecting texture detail for characters and monsters.

Monster Hunter Wilds utilizes Capcom's RE Engine, initially launched with Resident Evil 7 in 2017. This engine, also powering titles like Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Rise, and Street Fighter 6, generally delivers strong performance across various platforms.

However, the RE Engine's performance in larger, more complex open-world games (like the anticipated Dragon's Dogma 2) has shown vulnerabilities on both consoles and PC. This raises concerns for Monster Hunter Wilds. Capcom's efforts to lower GPU requirements are therefore crucial for the game's PC reception.