Whenever a major video game is given a release date, the most excited and die-hard of fans will try and book time off work to enjoy it on day one. In this instance, that game isMonster Hunter Rise, the latest entry in the popular Capcom series which is set to launch as a Nintendo Switch exclusive in only a few days (anyone who’s particularly eager canalready pre-load it in preparation). For one company, however,Monster Hunter Rise’s release is being treated like an actual holiday.
Initially reported on by Huffington Post Japan and then translated by VGC, Masaki Hiyama, CEO of VR-development company Mark-on, announced via Twitter that he had made March 26 ‘MonHun Day’ so that his staff could take the day off to playMonster Hunter Rise. Speaking with Huffington Post, Hiyama explained that many employees had already requested to take that day off from work, specifically because of the game’s release, and Hiyama figured he may as well treat it like a holiday, although it doesn’t apply to executives.
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Hiyama has shared the email he sent to employees, which stated that he also did it because it was expected that employees wouldn’t be able to concentrate on their work. According to Hiyama, he has since received words of appreciation and thanks from his staff for the decision. At the time of writing, his tweet has been liked almost 100,000 times and been retweeted over 33,ooo times, with many praising his decision and wishing other companies did something similar.
While it would be great to see this kind of thing become the norm, theMonster Hunterseries is something of a special case. The series has become incredibly popular worldwide, especially thanks to the release ofMonster Hunter World, but it’s especially huge in Japan. If it was any other game, this decision likely wouldn’t have been made.
Monster Hunter Risecan be best described as the Switch’s equivalent toMonster Hunter World. It is an entirely new game, but it retains many of the conventions introduced inWorldand features a strong focus on online multiplayer, allowing friends to work together to hunt downvarious monsters, both brand-new and familiar to the series.
It being exclusive only to the Switch may be disappointing to non-Switch owners. However, it was rumored that Capcom wasplanning a PC releaseas well. Capcom itself later confirmed this to be true, but the PC port won’t be releasing until sometime next year.
Monster Hunter Risewill release for Nintendo Switch on March 26, and will come to PC in 2022.
