Monster Hunter: World producer says it will not have loot boxes

Co-op super-safari Monster Hunter: World will not give players access to better or weapons or gear through loot boxes or microtransactions, producer Ryozo Tsujimoto recently told Trusted Reviews. Not because of the recent and ongoing backlash against them, but because an imbalance of equipment that wasn't fairly earned could disrupt the smooth functioning of the hunting team.

"The idea is that there’s a harmony in the four players going out and you’re going to get on well together," Tsujimoto said (via a translator), "If you feel someone hasn’t earned what they’ve got or they’ve got a better weapon just because they paid for it and you worked for yours, that creates friction.

"Even in a co-op game where it’s not pay-to-win, because we’re all on the same team, it’s like you didn’t earn that or you’ve got it and don’t know how to use it. We don’t want that for Monster Hunter. There are absolutely no plans, it’s not in the game where you can get your random crate or random loot box and get a great item or great weapon. None of the stuff that affects the gameplay is even paid for. It’s all cosmetic, just stuff that’s a bit of fun."

The goal is to keep players focused on tactics and skill, rather than on simply grinding for the best gear. When players encounter an especially tough obstacle, for instance, "we want you to go in and, through gameplay, find out what's causing you to hit this hurdle and figure it out," Tsujimoto said. "Whenever you get over that hurdle by yourself, it’s such a great feeling, why would we let you skip that just to make a bit of extra money? It doesn’t make any sense. There’s no way we would interrupt that flow."

So it's not perfectly clear exactly how the system will work—it sounds like, but is not explicitly stated, that cosmetics will be offered for direct purchase—but the important point is how it won't work: Nothing that impacts gameplay will be available for purchase or through random buyable drops. "We want to make sure nobody is under the impression that, because it looks like the kind of game where you might have loot boxes, they definitely aren’t in there," he said.

That's the good news; the bad news is that we'll have to wait a long while yet (as in this fall, compared to later this month for consoles) before Monster Hunter: World arrives on PC. Tsujimoto explained why earlier this week.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.