With the February 28th release of Monster Hunter Wilds fast approaching, developer Capcom has announced it's actively working to lower the game's recommended GPU requirements. This follows up on a statement from the official German Monster Hunter X/Twitter account, which also revealed Capcom is exploring the development of a standalone PC benchmarking tool.
Currently, Capcom recommends an Nvidia GTX 1660 Super or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT for achieving 30 FPS at 1080p. This minimum specification also requires an internal resolution of 720p, upscaling the graphics via DLSS or FSR at the lowest settings.
For a smoother 60 FPS experience at 1080p, with upscaling and Frame Generation technologies enabled, Capcom suggests an RTX 2070 Super, RTX 4060, or AMD RX 6700 XT. It's worth noting that only the RTX 4060 supports Nvidia Frame Generation, while 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 recommends a 40 FPS baseline for third-person games. Running below 60 FPS with upscaling can introduce noticeable latency, impacting responsiveness and feel.
The Monster Hunter Wilds open beta highlighted performance issues for players with lower-end hardware, including mid-range cards like the RTX 3060. A particularly frustrating bug prevented the game from loading high-detail textures for characters and monsters.
Monster Hunter Wilds utilizes Capcom's RE Engine, first introduced in 2017's Resident Evil 7. This engine has powered titles like Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter Rise, and Street Fighter 6, generally delivering strong performance across platforms.
However, the RE Engine's performance in larger, open-world games with numerous NPCs and enemies—like the upcoming Dragon's Dogma 2—has raised concerns. These past performance issues on consoles and PC cast a shadow over Monster Hunter Wilds. With the open beta and launch dates approaching rapidly, Capcom's efforts to reduce GPU requirements could be crucial for the game's PC success.
