Well, it seems I wasn't the only one who wanted to return to "Monster Hunter: World" after a long absence this holiday season: According to SteamDB, the 1 1, the peak number of concurrent users reached 131,964. This is the largest number of hunters exploring the new world since October 2020.

It was the 12th most played game on New Year's Day, attracting more players than games like "Rust," "The Finals," "Elden Ring" and "Cyberpunk 2077." Not bad for a game released in 2018, if you ask me.

There are several theories as to the reason for the resurgence: looking at SteamDB, "Monster Hunter Wilds," the direct follow-up, has been increasing its numbers quite steadily since its release at The Game Awards on December 7. That, plus the fact that the game is on Steam sale through January 4 for less than $10, its lowest price ever. The same goes for the expanded version of "Iceborne," which is now on sale for just under $15.

Interestingly, the latest in the series, Monster Hunter Rise, is also currently under $15, but the same phenomenon is not occurring. The number of concurrent users has increased slightly from around 15,000 at the beginning of this year to 27,266. Nevertheless, the attention is focused on World, which makes sense given that it is a much more involved game than the relatively simple Nintendo Switch-centric Rise, combined with the fact that Wilds is essentially going to be a Monster Hunter World 2. understandable: given that Wilds is essentially a Monster Hunter: World 2-like game, it's understandable that many people would choose Wilds as a return title.

I personally am having a great time returning to Monster Hunter: World: I personally am having a great time returning to Monster Hunter: World. The co-op play is especially great and is still my favorite Monster Hunter after five and a half years. There's nothing like bashing a giant monster's head in with a giant bagpipe weapon and then singing a song to buff your teammates. Like everyone else right now, I'll be playing for many more hours as I eagerly await the release of Wiles in 2025.