Can Monster Hunter Now compete against Pokémon Go?

Since September, players in many countries can try Monster Hunter Now. This is Capcom’s new bet to bring the classic franchise to the world of augmented reality mobile video games, a subgenre that was mainly founded by Pokémon Go in 2016. Developed by Niantic, in this new installment you can explore the streets of the real world and find the typical Monster Hunter monsters, then hunt them. It’s an ingenious idea, which takes advantage of the basic concepts of the franchise, and has already been a hit among fans. But the question is, how well is this new game doing when compared to Pokémon Go?

Monster Hunter Now vs. Pokémon Go: Which is more successful?

To make a fair comparison, we must go to the AppMagic site and take a look at the revenues that Monster Hunter Now and Pokémon Go obtained in their first two months of service. The most important thing to keep in mind is that these two augmented reality games are free, but have in-app purchases. These microtransactions are not used for cosmetic items, but on items that help make the experience more accessible, such as shortening wait times or to increase storage space. This means that players who spent money did so because they are truly committed to the gameplay, and not because they just want to get the latest skin.

From its release date until now, in just 2 months, Monster Hunter Now grossed around $55,494,103 in in-game purchases. Which is truly impressive for such a new video game. But it’s almost impossible to compete against the titan of augmented reality mobile games, as Pokémon Go grossed $271,394,473 in the same time period. And that’s not to mention that, when it was originally released, Pokémon Go had far fewer features and Pokémon to collect, if not becoming popular because of how revolutionary its gameplay was. This is proof of what a huge worldwide success it really was.

Answering the question posed in the title: No, Monster Hunter Now cannot compete against Pokémon Go. It doesn’t even come close on its heels in terms of total revenue grossed. After all, Pokémon Go basically created a new sub-genre of mobile video games, while MH Now used that same formula, but with the Monster Hunter franchise added in. However, this game was only released very recently. If they have solid updates that add more content to it, Monster Hunter Now may have a bright future ahead of it. At the end of the day, the only ones who stand to gain in this situation are those at Niantic, who developed both games.