The Monster Hunter Wilds devs are reminding players that the open beta is not locked behind a pre-order

With a release date set for February 28, 2025, fans of the massively popular Monster Hunter series don’t have much longer to wait to jump into a new adventure. However, as if that wasn’t enough, Capcom is holding an Open Beta for Monster Hunter Wilds starting today! But as we’ve been shown by the industry, many are wondering if you need to pre-order the game to have access. But it turns out, you don’t have to!

While they already mentioned it during the announcement given alongside the latest trailer for the game, the franchise’s official Twitter/X account is reminding people that this test is open for anyone with a compatible console or platform. That means that it is not locked behind any paywalls.

“Hunters, we’ve seen some comments wondering if you need to have pre-ordered Monster Hunter Wilds to access the Open Beta Test,” reads the tweet above. “The answer is no, no pre-order is needed to play! However, if you’d like to pre-order after playing the Open Beta Test, that’d be cool!”

Perhaps it’s because of how the biggest players in the video game industry have conducted their business in the last few years, but it’s good to see at least one AAA title that allows everyone to try the game out ahead of release.

And if you’re wondering just exactly what this Beta Test will include, it turns out it’s the same content we were already fortunate enough to try thanks to an invitation by Capcom a few months ago. You can read our thoughts about the experience through this link, where I was completely fascinated by what I saw, stating that “we can say with confidence that Capcom has big surprises for players, since MH Wilds brings with it enormous changes in gameplay that almost completely change the Monster Hunter formula, without losing the essence that makes the franchise what it has been for more than 20 years.”

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