Switch 2 owners will be able to try Monster Hunter Wilds for free before it launches. Capcom has announced that the Monster Hunter Wilds Prologue Demo comes to Nintendo Switch 2 on October 19 Pacific time (October 20 in the UK and Europe), as reported by Gematsu and Video Games Chronicle.
What’s in the demo
The Prologue Demo covers the opening of the story. Based on the version already available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam, that means full access to character creation, followed by the first part of the campaign up to the end of Chapter 1-3, “To the Forest.”
Progress carries over. Players who finish the demo can transfer their save to the full game when it launches, so there is no need to replay the opening.
The demo does not support online multiplayer, which is reserved for the full release. It does support local play, so several Switch 2 owners in the same room can team up by connecting their systems directly. Capcom highlighted that feature in its announcement, and it fits the series’ long history as a couch co-op favorite on Nintendo handhelds.
Pre-orders and launch
Monster Hunter Wilds launches on Switch 2 on December 4, a date Capcom set last month, as RCG covered in Capcom Dates Monster Hunter Wilds for Switch 2 Dec. 4. VGC reports that digital pre-orders for the Switch 2 version open on the same day as the demo.
The game is already out on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and Capcom has a major expansion, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, planned for 2027. In a recent VGC interview, series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto said bringing Wilds to Switch 2 mattered because of Japan’s history with handheld Monster Hunter and because it makes local co-op easier to arrange at home.
For anyone unsure how a game this demanding runs on Nintendo’s hardware, the free demo should answer that question about six weeks before launch.
