Monster Hunter 4 Hits New Shipment Milestone

Capcom's Nintendo 3DS role-playing game Monster Hunter 4G (known as Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in the west) has now shipped more than 4 million copies, the Japanese publisher announced. This includes physical copies and digital versions sold through the Nintendo eShop.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was released in Japan and Asia in October 2014, before it came to North America and Europe in February 2015. A breakdown of shipments by region was not provided.

"In North America and Europe, sales have benefited from online cooperative gameplay via the Internet, as well as user engagement via events and online community activities, a downloadable demo targeted at newcomers to the series, and an effective simultaneous roll-out with the launch of the New Nintendo 3DS," Capcom said.

The publisher has regularly supported Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate with new DLC. The latest add-on arrived earlier this month, bringing new quests, weapons, and armor.

Monster Hunter 4 becomes the first game in the series to reach more than 1 million combined units sold in North America and Europe.

Capcom's Monster Hunter series began in 2004, and as of September 30, 2015, the company has shipped some 33 million copies of Monster Hunter games. That makes Monster Hunter one of Capcom's most successful franchises, joining Resident Evil, Dead Rising, and Devil May Cry.

Upcoming Monster Hunter games include Monster Hunter X (launching November 28 in Japan) and Monster Hunter Stories (scheduled to arrive next year in Japan). In addition, a Monster Hunter animated series, the first ever, is in development for Japan.