Back in July, Niantic announced that its next augmented reality (AR) game, Monster Hunter Now would be released in September. Opening up soft launch pre-registrations at the same time, those registrations have already exceeded 1 million. That helps to unlock several rewards for gamers with plenty more still to come.
Just like fellow AR title Space Invaders: World Defense, Monster Hunter Now is offering pre-registrations to gauge the level of interest. Whilst at the same time preparing servers for that influx of players. To help encourage as many registrations as possible there are reward tiers. At 500K ten potions and three paintballs were unlocked. At 1 million a Founder Medal and three Wander pebbles became available. There are still three more reward tiers to unlock, at 2m, 3m and 5m players. With a month still to go until launch, there’s still plenty of time.
Monster Hunter in AR
Based on Capcom’s hit franchise, Monster Hunter Now is a geo-location game where you head out into the world to hunt monsters. You’ll need to gather resources and conduct successful hunts to access and upgrade equipment. In turn, you’ll then be able to tackle bigger and more difficult monsters.
You’ll have six different weapons to choose from, including a sword and shield, a great sword, a long sword, Hammer, Light Bowgun and Bow. Fans of the original Monster Hunter series will spot familiar foes including Great Jagras, Pukei-Pukei, Rathian, Barros, Rathalos, and Diablos.
Monster Hunter Now isn’t a solo experience either. Encouraging social gameplay, team up with friends in squads of up to four players or invite other nearby players to help in a hunt.
Niantic, best known for its Pokémon Go AR game recently made the news because of game shutdowns and staff layoffs. Around 230 employees were laid off in June, whilst games including Harry Potter and Catan have ended. Transformers: Heavy Metal development has also come to a halt. The company will be focusing on Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter Now.
Monster Hunter Now pre-registrations are available until launch day on 14th September 2023 on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Have you registered? Let us know in the comments below.