With just two weeks left for the Monster Hunter Rise release date, we finally have clarity on why Monster Hunter Rise for Nintendo Switch still hasn’t been listed on retailers like Games The Shop and Amazon India for releasing locally. Capcom confirmed to IGN India that Nintendo is distributing Monster Hunter Rise which means it will not officially release in India through e-Xpress Interactive. Nintendo doesn’t have a distributor in India yet and every Nintendo Switch game distributed by Nintendo has only released here through parallel imports. This also applied to games like Doom and Skyrim that were published by Bethesda but distributed by Nintendo.
In the past, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection and Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate from Capcom on Nintendo Switch did release in India since those titles were distributed by Capcom in EU territories. Ultra Street Fighter II The Final Challengers was also published by Capcom but distributed by Nintendo which was what led to it not releasing officially in India. As with that title, parallel imports will likely try to cover demand for Monster Hunter Rise in India with retailers like MCube Games already having listed it.
What this means for those looking forward to Monster Hunter Rise on Nintendo Switch is that the only options right now are buying Monster Hunter Rise digitally or going through import stores albeit at a higher price than what you’d be paying if Monster Hunter Rise released officially in India.
Monster Hunter Rise second demo release date
Monster Hunter Rise will get an update to the previous demo on March 11 (or March 12 depending on your timezone). This includes Magnamalo and all prior quests. The demo will also be made available to download again on the same day.
I spoke to Yasunori Ichinose at Capcom about Monster Hunter Rise’s returning monsters and more. Read the full interview here. Details for the game’s first free title update and more are here.
Monster Hunter Rise releases on March 26, 2021 for Nintendo Switch and in 2022 for PC via Steam.
