In an interview with GamesRadar, Capcom's Monster Hunter World producer Ryoza Tsujimoto explaining the team's reasoning for such a hefty delay for the PC version.
"For the main Monster Hunter game, this is our first PC title and it's something we want to make sure we get right," Tsujimoto said. "So rather than have it taking up resources during the console development and not it not being able to have our full attention on it. We want to get console out the door and then we're going to take some extra time and try and get the PC version as good as possible.
"There's extra work you need for PC as well. On console you use first party matchmaking, you just kind of plug into it, whether it's PSN or Xbox Live, but on PC we're going to have to work more to get our own matchmaking working. So, hopefully, PC users won't mind waiting a little bit longer for us to bring you a really great optimized PC experience."
Capcom announced recently that Monster Hunter World on PC is targeting Autumn late this year, around eight months after the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One releases, which are coming out on January 26. All three versions were announced together, though Capcom said they had to pause development of the PC version while they work on the consoles. A final PlayStation 4-exclusive beta runs from January 18 to January 22.
You can check out the latest trailer for the game below.
[Source: GamesRadar via PCGamer]
Our Take
While a delay is forgivable, I really wonder if optimization should take that long. Capcom has delivered a number of good-to-great PC ports in the last few years, so this one feels like they're hitting a reset button on all their experience so far.