A letter from the developers on the major update: Fulminations in the Frost

Hello Hunters!
This is Kanno, the game director of Monster Hunter Now.

Firstly, I want to thank you for playing and enjoying Monster Hunter Now.

Today, I’m excited to bring you our first major update, Fulminations in the Frost. In this letter, I would like to share with you a little bit about the update, how it came about, and the future ahead.

The addition of monsters

In this update, we chose to add the following new monsters.

Large monsters: Radobaan, Banbaro, Barioth, and Zinogre
Small monsters: Wulg and Cortos

For the first major update, we chose to include the fan favorite Zinogre because we wanted to include a monster that we knew a lot of players were looking forward to. We then chose Barioth and Banbaro, who we thought complemented the wintery theme of this update.

Additionally, we still didn’t have any monsters that could cause sleep status and we wanted to introduce one soon, so Radobaan was chosen.

As we go into the warmer months and the next update comes, Barioth, Wulg, and Cortos will stop appearing for a while, so we recommend you hunt as many as you can while the in-game field is adorned for winter (from December to early March).

The addition of weapon types

Dual Blades and Lances are the first new weapon types to be added since launch. Here’s a look at why we chose them.

A lot of you have been waiting for the arrival of the Dual Blades weapon type so we had always wanted to introduce it early on. We grappled with how to translate its most iconic feature, Demon Mode, into 75-second hunts so it took a while to get it right, but we’re proud to bring it to you in this first update.

Up until now, the Sword & Shield was the only weapon type that could guard. We wanted to allow for a wider range of equipment and skills (like Guard and Offensive Guard) which factored in guarding in the future, so we chose to include the Lance in this update.

The addition of Hunt-a-thons

Hunt-a-thons are a new way to play in which multiple monsters can be hunted in succession. In a Hunt-a-thon, a phenomenon called a Dimensional Rift occurs at a Wayspot (what you see in-game as a gathering point) and a notice and countdown appear to let you know a Hunt-a-thon is about to start.

Hunters can join one by gathering at a Hunt-a-thon Point when one is being held. As before, up to 4 hunters can join the Hunt-a-thon at the same time in a group.

Going forward, Hunt-a-thons will feature some monsters that you normally only see during events, as well as monsters that exclusively appear in Hunt-a-thons.

• In this update, Zinogre will be exclusive to Hunt-a-thons.

We had two main goals in creating this feature: 1) we wanted hunters to feel closer and more connected when playing together, and 2) we want to gradually introduce more content that makes use of specific locations.

Monster Hunter Now will remain a location-based game that can be played anywhere, but we believe that the experience of achieving a goal with others in a specific location is also one of the interesting aspects of location-based games. We are also considering other ways to make Hunt-a-thons even easier to play for those in areas where fewer people naturally gather.

Field changes

The field will be lightly snow-covered for a while to match the monsters that will be appearing (from December to early March).

Barioth, Wulg, and Cortos will only be around while there is snow on the field and they will stop appearing with the arrival of spring.

New quests

We added some new quests that feature our newly added monsters. The newly added monsters will make their first appearance in Special Quests rather than main story quests.

Item Box Expansion

We have had many requests for an Item Box expansion. While it didn’t quite make it into this major update, we are planning another update by mid-December to expand the Item Box capacity further. We appreciate your patience while we get this ready for you.

Rebalancing

Please see here for more information about each of the adjustments that were made.
https://monsterhunternow.com/news/gamebalanceadjustment-dec2023

What does the future have in store?

We’re planning events all through the New Year and into January and February. The next major update is currently set for spring 2024, and we will be sharing our roadmap for March and beyond with you all sometime in January 2024.

More details will be shared at that time, but here’s a taste of what’s to come: we’re planning to have a seasonal system in Monster Hunter Now, and we’ll be adding new main story chapters alongside the start of a new season in March. Of course, you can expect additional weapon types and monsters as well. Please stay tuned for further announcements.

In saying that, we’re still ironing out all the details, so some of this may change in the coming months!

Jan 31 update: We apologize for the delay in sharing the roadmap with you. We’re currently preparing an overview of what’s to come, which we’re excited to share more about in March. In the meantime, we’re immersed in the development of the next major update, set to be released in the spring as originally planned, so stay tuned for more details on that to come.

In closing

It’s hard to believe that three months have passed since Monster Hunter Now officially launched in September. Seeing so many of you playing and enjoying the game has been a huge source of joy and encouragement for us.

There is still a lot we want to achieve in the way of various improvements based on your feedback, new features, and QOL improvements—some things we are looking forward to working on in 2024. We appreciate your continued support!