The team made decisions and optimisations “one by one”
If you’ve experienced Monster Hunter Wilds on other platforms, especially during its launch window, you might already be aware of the game’s technical woes.
These troubles haven’t stopped Capcom from bringing the game to Switch 2, and to get the latest entry running “without compromising the experience of Monster Hunter Wilds”, the team had to make decisions “one by one” during the port’s development.
Here’s what the game’s producer Genki Sunano said about this process during a recent interview with Kotaku:
Genki Sunano: “Wilds is packed with a tremendous number of elements, so we had to carefully evaluate the assets and underlying processing behind each one, determining what needed to be preserved and what could be adjusted without changing the overall experience. It was this painstaking, and at times seemingly endless, process of making decisions and optimizations one by one that proved to be one of our biggest challenges in delivering a comfortable handheld experience while preserving what makes Wilds feel like Wilds.”
Sunano added to this, noting how the team had to rebuild certain assets and shaders for the Switch 2 version while preserving the game’s look and delivering the same quality experience on Switch 2.
Capcom will also be applying the “knowledge and expertise” it’s gained from this project to performance improvements for existing versions of the game in the lead up to the new expansion, Ascendance. According to the producer, the work on this port could also benefit Capcom’s approach to game development on other platforms.
Last month, Capcom confirmed Monster Hunter Wilds would run at 30fps across all modes on the Switch 2. As for the game’s display, there’ll be the option to prioritise “resolution” or “framerate” in TV mode.
