Monster Hunter Wilds open beta is coming next week, with a full character creator and two hunts

Monster Hunter Wilds isn't set to arrive until February 28, 2025, but you can get a taste of what it's all about a whole lot sooner than that—next week, in fact—courtesy of the upcoming open beta test, which will give players access to "a limited portion" of the game including character creation and a couple of hunts.

The character creator will include all the features that will be available in the full release, and will allow you to remake your character as many times as you like during the test. And if you whip up something you really like, you'll be able to import your character and your cat-like Palico companion into the full release.

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In terms of actual hunting, the open beta will offer a Story Trial mode including the opening cutscene and a Chatacabra hunt with "basic tutorials," and a Doshaguma hunt, in which you set out to snuff the alpha of the Doshaguma pack. "Explore the vast locale on your Seikret and switch between two different weapon types on the fly as you experience the latest in hunting action," Capcom said. (Okay, but what did he ever do to you, though?) The big farting ape, I'm sorry to say, won't be there for this one.

Should things get sticky, SOS flares can be used in either quest to call in up to three helper hunters, either NPCs or other players online. And yes, the open beta will support crossplay for multiplayer.

Taking part in the open beta will also get you a bonus pendant and bonus item pack for use in the full release.

Do note, as Capcom did, that this is a test. Yes, it's free time with the game, but it's also a way for developers to see what happens when they open the floodgates and let everyone come rushing in. Naturally, there's a possibility that "what happens" will be not entirely good: Capcom warned that because Monster Hunter Wilds is still in development, "we cannot guarantee a stable gameplay experience."

And if you do run into problems, that's tough bananas for you, because—understandably—tech support for problems during the beta will not be provided. There will, however, be a survey that will open on October 29 to provide feedback on the new Monster Hunting experience, so you can let them know if you run into grief. That's kind of the point of the whole thing, after all.

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PlayStation Plus subscribers will get access to the Monster Hunter Wilds open beta at 5 pm ET/8 pm PT on October 28, but the rest of us will sadly have to wait until the same time on October 31, at which point it will open up to non-PSP hunters, as well as those on Xbox and Steam. The whole thing wraps up at the oddly specific time of 3:59 pm ET/6:59 pm PT on November 3.