Recently Capcom admitted that the PlayStation 5’s price tag has created a so-called ‘PS5 barrier,’ which kept Monster Hunter from breaking through to more players. On the other hand, the company is looking fondly toward Nintendo’s cheaper handheld. Sure, Monster Hunter Stories 3 is already planned for the handheld hybrid device and other consoles. However, is a game as big and power-hungry as Monster Hunter Wilds actually feasible for Switch 2?
Putting Specs into Numbers and a Reality Check
PS5 Pro is packed with 8-core Zen 2 CPU, 60 RDNA 3 and 16.7 teraflops of GPU power, 576 GB/s of GDDR6 RAM, and AI upscaling via PSSR. On paper, the console has 45% more horsepower than base PS5. It gives decent headroom for Wilds‘ expensive AI herds, weather systems, and dense biomes that are always active in the background. Nevertheless, PS5 Pro only managed 1080p and unstable 60 FPS when you’re playing in Performance Mode.
Official PC recommended specs paint a similar picture. Capcom asks for an i7-8700 or Ryzen 5 2600 CPU, 16 GB RAM, and something on GeForce RTX 2060 or Radeon RX 5600 XT level GPU. Although on paper it should run on mid-high-range desktop, the reality says the opposite.
Expect frequent frame dips in crowded biomes, unpredictable stutters, and volumetric fog so aggressive you might as well be playing Silent Hill. Some claimed it’s hindered by Denuvo DRM, some argued that Capcom’s RE Engine is just not a good fit for huge freeroaming games. Whatever the actual reasons are, the game cannot be played comfortably on mid-range PC without DLSS or FSR. PC players even opted to use performance-enhancing mods just to make sure Wilds run as advertised on their rigs.
Switch 2, however, is fighting an even tougher battle. Sure, it’s got NVIDIA’s custom T239 Ampere chip, 12 GB LPDDR5X RAM, hardware ray tracing, and DLSS sprinkled in per Digital Foundry. That’s a huge leap over the previous console’s tablet Tegra X1. But let’s be real, Switch 2’s spec is still a mobile tier that barely scales to last-gen PS4 in practice.
To put them in numbers: Switch 2 is about x7 stronger than the original Switch, which does sound like a big jump. Until you realize that the Switch 2 delivers only about 20% of the PS5 Pro’s raw GPU power. It’s perfect for Mario and Pokemon; a nightmare for AAA open-world beasts like Monster Hunter Wilds.
Then a reality check sets in from another popular open-world fantasy action game. Recent reports for demanding third-party titles on Switch 2 are mixed. Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition was shown running at 30 FPS but multiple Gamescom attendants describe frequent dips into the mid-teens. Still, Cyberpunk 2077 and Star Wars Outlaws fared much better at locked 30 FPS but they chug when frantic actions occur in open areas.
So, Is a Monster Hunter Wilds Switch 2 Port Possible? Yes. Easy? Probably Not.
Technically, a Switch 2 port of Monster Hunter Wilds is plausible — as long as Hunters are fine with huge compromises. Simply put, Capcom will need to tune Wilds down to targeting 30 FPS at best and lean heavily on dynamic resolution plus DLSS everywhere. Think 720p and DLSS 1080p in handheld with 900p while docked, with trimmed crowd density and shorter LODs. Unless players want to deal with the open beta visuals.
However, one huge caveat looms if Capcom ever decided to port Monster Hunter Wilds to Switch 2: CPU budgets. Although Wilds doesn’t offer full open-world experience like the company’s Dragon’s Dogma 2, it has a lot of stuff running behind the scene. The herds mechanic, weather cycle, and systemic behaviors are what defined Wilds — and those are the hardest to scale down. After all, there is is no way Switch 2’s handheld CPU match PS5’s Zen 2 or i7-8700/Ryzen 5 2600-class on PC. And Wilds is not known to be well optimized in the first place.
If you’re holding out for a Monster Hunter that runs smoothly on Switch 2, your best bet is waiting for the next entry. Much like Call of Duty, Capcom rotates between dev teams with each release as seen with World and Rise. That means the follow-up to Monster Hunter Wilds could be built with Switch 2 hardware in mind from the start.
