Monster Hunter Wilds datamine reveals even more Switch 2 code – here’s what it could mean

Update:

User BomberBlur070 has dug deeper into the code, and it looks like a Switch 2 version of Monster Hunter Wilds isn’t as far-fetched as it first seemed.

Over on Reddit, they’ve pieced together evidence of DLSS presets for Nintendo’s console, culling NPCs to keep resources available, and what appears to be a local multiplayer mode that lets two Switch 2 owners hunt together.

I’d recommend reading the post in full, because there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Capcom has, at least at one point, considered rolling out Monster Hunter Wilds on Switch 2. Given that the publisher has supported the new system with Street Fighter, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, and the upcoming Resident Evil: Requiem, it’s not out of the question just yet.

Original story follows:

Monster Hunter Wilds launched almost a year ago, but the game has been in the news for both good and bad reasons in the months since.

While reviews (ours included) praised the game, its PC performance has been poor for months. Title Update 4 has kicked off a wave of incoming improvements for those playing on Windows, but now a new datamine has suggested the resource-hungry action title could be coming to Nintendo Switch 2.

Monster Hunter Wilds on Switch 2? We’ll believe it when we see it

Over on the Monster Hunter Leaks subreddit, STRCoolerSimp shared what appears to be datamined content from Title Update 4, which launched in December.

There are some curious inclusions, such as hints at a new Tempered Gogmazios appearance that doesn’t quite match up with what’s there already, but what’s perhaps most interesting is a string that mentions ‘nsw2UpgradeEdition’.

For those who aren’t aware, there is no version of Wilds on Switch or Switch 2, so the idea of an ‘Upgrade Edition’ feels curious.

To its credit, though, the Monster Hunter franchise has long been tied to Nintendo systems. The first two mainline games debuted on PS2, before Monster Hunter Tri and Monster Hunter 4 were released for the Wii and 3DS, respectively.

There’s a long lineage of Monster Hunter games on Nintendo handhelds, and the most recent Monster Hunter game, Rise, was released on the original Nintendo Switch in 2021. It didn’t come to other platforms until a PC port in 2022, and other consoles in 2023.

Given how Wilds continues to struggle for some PCs due to its CPU-intensive nature, though, it remains to be seen whether getting it playable on a Switch 2 is even possible – although it does run on the Xbox Series S, albeit with some stutters and a loss of visual clarity.

It still feels like a leap too far for Switch 2. Will we get a port, or will the Switch 2 get its own Monster Hunter title like Rise on the original console?

In recent months, big third-party ports like Borderlands 4 and Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition have been delayed due to performance concerns.

For more on Nintendo Switch 2 ports, check out our thoughts on Two Point Museum and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero.