Monster Hunter Celebrates 15th Anniversary, Possibly Teases Something New

While 2018's Monster Hunter World served as many players' introduction to the action RPG series, the franchise is one of Capcom's oldest, originally debuting during the PlayStation 2 era. This year marks the series' 15th anniversary, and the publisher is commemorating the occasion with a special trailer.

The video, which you can watch below, takes a look back on all of the mainline installments in the series to date, beginning with 2004's Monster Hunter. Since then, the franchise has appeared on numerous handheld and home consoles, including the PSP, Wii, and 3DS, most recently making its home on PS4, Xbox One, and PC with Monster Hunter World.

The video ends with another teaser for Iceborne, this year's major Monster Hunter World expansion. Capcom hasn't revealed any new details about the DLC, but it has previously said it will introduce new locales, monsters, gear, quests, and other content.

In addition to the above trailer, Capcom has been celebrating Monster Hunter's 15th anniversary by sharing cards from developers who've worked on the series, one of which has caught the attention of users on Resetera. Specifically, eagle-eyed fans have spotted the word "NEXT" apparently hidden in the card from Yasunori Ichinose, who has directed several portable Monster Hunter games.

Whether or not this is a hint at things to come for the franchise remains to be seen, but we'll undoubtedly hear more about Monster Hunter World's Iceborne expansion before long. The DLC is slated to launch for PS4 and Xbox One this fall, with a PC release to follow.