The success of the games brought forth a large media franchise, which includes anime, manga, card games and a live action movie that was released on December 3, 2020.

As of June 2021, the game series has sold 78 million units worldwide, and is Capcom's second best-selling series following Resident Evil, their best selling RPG series and their second most successful intellectual property. However, with Monster Hunter: World, Capcom aimed to attract a global audience using the power of advanced home gaming consoles and computers, and released the title simultaneously worldwide World became the series' best-selling game within three days of its release within a few months, it also became Capcom's best-selling game with nearly 15.5 million units sold by December 2019, with more than 70% of those sold outside of Japan.

Monster Hunter has also been critically well received in Western markets but has generally languished in sales, in part due to the game's high difficult learning curve, and had a cult following up until Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate which started to increase its popularity.

The Monster Hunter games are immensely popular in Japan and other Asian countries, popularized by the series' use of ad hoc multiplayer features on portable consoles. The series, which debuted year 2004 on the PlayStation 2 console, have been released across a variety of platforms, including personal computer, home console, portable consoles, and mobile devices. While initially single-player games, more recent titles have up to four-player cooperative play, with all hunters working together to take down monsters. As part of its core gameplay loop, players use loot gained from slaying monsters, gathering resources, and quest rewards to craft improved weapons, armor, and other items that allows them to face more powerful monsters. As the title suggests, the player takes on the role of a hunter in a fantasy setting, slaying or trapping large monsters across various landscapes as part of quests given to them by the locals. Monster Hunter ( モンスターハンター, Monsutā Hantā ?) is a series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games developed and published by Capcom.

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