POKÉMON Go developer Niantic has been looking for its next huge success following the creature collecting mobile game.
It has tried a few games since then, including the short-lived Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and the tamagotchi-style Peridot.
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None of these could match the massive popularity of the Pokémon IP, and the company even shut down its Marvel project, Marvel World of Heroes, before it fully launched.
However, it feels that Niantic has finally found its second big hit with the help of Capcom’s mega success Monster Hunter.
Monster Hunter Now asks players to fight monsters around the world to gather resources and craft weapons.
This is similar to how gameplay works in the mainline series, except the overworld is the real world.
Capcom is a Japanese company, and Japan has very different customs when it comes to business decisions.
Usually, partnerships between companies like Capcom and Niantic take a long time to develop.
Business partners are usually courted with gifts and meetings at fancy restaurants before deals are done.
However, when Niantic approached Capcom’s Ryozo Tsujimoto he apparently jumped at the chance of a collaboration, saying yes within the first ten minutes.
The idea behind Monster Hunter Now is to connect people who work together, by allowing them to take down gigantic beasts as a team.
Niantic Chief Product Officer Kei Kawai told us that his cousin met his wife through Monster Hunter on PSP and he wanted to create those same bonds with the modern audience.
He recalls: “We went to the pitch [saying], ‘Hey, we would like to work on a Monster Hunter game set in the real world’.
“So I sat down with him, shared slides, started talking – and it was the first pitch… Like 10 minutes into that, he was like: ‘Let’s do it’.
“He told me there’s a lot of fans telling him they want to play Niantic games, and if they’re gonna work with anyone in making a real-world game, it’s gonna be Niantic.
“So I was surprised. I imagined that it’s gonna take a lot of eating and drinking and talking to get anything done In Japanese business.”
Monster Hunter mobile needed right now
It is very unusual for two companies to agree to a collaboration so quickly, but Monster Hunter has always worked well in a portable format.
As mentioned, the PSP Monster Hunter game was wildly popular, and it’s natural that Capcom would want to capture that magic again.
And it seems that Tsujimoto-san knew what he was doing as Monster Hunter Now has already proven successful.
If you want to read more about Niantic games, check out Pokémon Go’s new Gigantamax feature.
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