Crossplay has slowly become a standard feature in modern multiplayer games, especially in series built around teaming up with friends. For Capcom’s widely popular hunting game series, however, the situation is not as straightforward. While Wilds finally let players hunt together across different platforms, many older Monster Hunter games — including World and Rise — still didn’t support crossplatform feature. If you’re curious, below is a full list of Monster Hunter games released on multiple platforms and whether they support crossplay and cross-save.
| Game Title | Platform | Crossplay Support? | Cross-save Support? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monster Hunter Freedom Unite | PSP, PS Vita, iOS | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Monster Hunter Frontier | PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes |
| Monster Hunter Portable 3rd | PSP, PS3 | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes, via save transfer |
| Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate | 3DS, Wii U | ✔️ Yes | ✔️ Yes, via save transfer |
| Monster Hunter Generations / Ultimate | 3DS, Switch | ✔️ Yes, unofficially | ✔️ Yes, via save transfer |
| Monster Hunter World / Iceborne | PS4, Xbox One, PC | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Monster Hunter Rise / Sunbreak | Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Monster Hunter Wilds | PS5, Xbox Series X, PC | ✔️ Yes | ❌ No |
Why Monster Hunter World and Rise Do Not Support Crossplay
For a series built around multiplayer play since day one, it’s rather surprising that World and Rise never had crossplatform support. Despite becoming Capcom’s biggest global success, World locked PlayStation, Xbox, and PC players to their own platforms. Rise followed a similar path, and cross-save was also unavailable for both.
Capcom has never publicly explained why crossplay never happened. However, many fans point to the staggered update schedule in World. For Rise, some suspected its early Nintendo-exclusivity deal may have complicated crossplatform support.
Interestingly, older Monster Hunter games have experimented with connected play and save transfers long before the feature became common.
How Crossplay and Cross-save Work in Monster Hunter Games That Support Them
Monster Hunter Frontier
Long before Wilds, the series had already experimented with full crossplatform multiplayer through Frontier. The MMO spin-off launched across PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, and Wii U, allowing Hunters to hunt together online. Since progression was also tied to an online account, cross-save worked naturally.
Although Capcom shut the game down in 2019, fanmade private servers have emerged since. However, transferring save data between them cannot be done automatically. Most communities use their own server rules and balance changes, meaning Hunters often need moderator help through Discord.
Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
Portable 3rd was one of the earliest examples of crossplay in the series, though in a much more limited form. Hunters with both a PSP and a PS3 could use the now-discontinued Ad-Hoc Party app, which turned the PSP’s local multiplayer into online sessions. The PS3 essentially acted as a bridge, letting PSP players join shared hunting lobbies over the internet. Save transfer was also straightforward; Hunters only need to connect a PSP to a PS3 and copy save data between devices.
Nevertheless, the emulator community has pushed things further, letting Hunters meet together across PC and Android devices.
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Its G-Rank/Master Rank counterpart provided similar service for the 3DS and the Wii U. Hunters between devices can play local multiplayer together, while the Wii U version also featured online play. Installing the now-defunct Capcom’s Packet Relay Tools app even lets 3DS users play online through a Wii U connected to the same network.
The Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Data Transfer Program app on eShop lets Hunters move their saves between 3DS and Wii U. While not as robust as its PSP counterpart, these days, emulators also let users meet up between devices.
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
In North America and Europe, the game launched only on the Switch. Japan, however, received both 3DS and Switch versions, complete with limited crosssave functionality between the two devices.
However, the regional online play block between Japanese and Western versions also turned out to be less strict than expected. Over time, modders discovered the matchmaking separation was largely controlled by a simple value in the game’s code. Players using emulators or modded Switch and 3DS can bypass this restriction with cheat codes and play across regions unofficially.
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds marks a major turning point for the franchise. It’s the first mainline game to fully support cross-platform multiplayer across different brands — PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC — allowing Hunters on all devices to party together from launch. However, Capcom still does not support full cross-save progression between platforms.
