Capcom has dropped another Monster Hunter Wilds patch that aims to improve optimization for “Steam-specific processes” and address the game’s long-standing PC issues.
“After receiving user reports, our internal testing confirmed that CPU load could increase around the Support Desk at Base Camp or the Grand Hub,” the developer wrote in the patch notes, below. “This is due to claimed content status check processes to notify the player if there is unclaimed content in the Support Desk, as indicated by an exclamation point (!).”
The notes go on to confirm that this issue — which causes frames to drop only in the Base Camp and Grand Hub, depending upon if you have any “unclaimed content” — is “an unintended bug and will be resolved with this update.”
Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 4 — which ushered in a long list of gameplay and balance changes, as well as CPU/GPU improvements, load reduction, and the optimization of “PC-specific processes and addition of options and presets to reduce processing load” — arrived last month. Its development roadmap, detailed in December, hoped to address the myriad issues impacting the PC version.
“We’ll follow this up in January with a PC-specific update with even more improvements, and are looking into further optimization for implementation in the February content update,” the team explained at the time. “We’re committed to making Monster Hunter Wilds a great experience for all players. Thank you for your patience and continued support.”
However, last week, one player believed they had discovered that PC performance was dictated by the number of DLCs a user has. As de_Tylmarande explained it: “More DLC = more FPS.” The tech-savvy Reddit user uncovered what they believed was a “bug in the code they need to fix” and shared their findings with the Monster Hunter subreddit. Shortly after sharing their theory, the redditor updated the post to report that Capcom had “replied,” and was “already looking into and it will be fixed.” Which is where Patch 1.040.03.01 comes in.
The developer now insists that “the number of DLCs you own does not affect” performance, but claimed content status check processes does. Applying the latest patch should, according to Capcom, resolve it, though.
“To further improve stability and performance across all platforms, additional improvements will be implemented in the Ver. 1.0.41 update on February 18,” it said.
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“I don’t have a direct comparison of my old settings on old vs new patch yet, but I can now run full ultra settings at 1440p and it drops to 55fps at worst, usually more like 65-80 though,” reported one player. “Comparable to what I was getting with balanced FSR and minor settings optimization before. So basically enough of an improvement that I get a free resolution upgrade. I’d say I’m happy with it, very acceptable smooth 120fps with framegen and it looks incredible at full res. And the high res texture pack is finally fixed. 7600x/7900xt.”
Conversely, someone else wrote: “Played for a bit. Framerate went from an avg of 45 to about 52 at 1080p with quality FSR with a mix of high, and medium settings. I played around a little more and moving most settings down didnt really impact things much IMO. I know some people are having a better experience, but the game still just doesn’t look good for the performance it’s asking. Hoping the other performance patch coming next month will help out further.”
“Cool, they are updating the game to address the issues people have expressed concerns about since launch, I’m sure there are several people out there who have been waiting for fixes before hopping back on, I wish I had waited [because] at this point I’m a bit jaded and reluctant to even hop back on,” added another player.
Here’s the full patch notes, which you’ll need to install if you wish to access DLC or online play:
Monster Hunter Wilds update 1.040.03.01 patch notes:
Required Space
Approx. 2.0 GB (With High Resolution Texture Pack: Approx. 31.0 GB total)
Note: Due to revisions to the High-Resolution Texture Pack, a re-download of approximately 31 GB will be required, resulting in an overall reduction of about 45 GB compared to the previous version.
Video Driver Version
Please update to the following driver versions to ensure the most stable experience possible.
– NVIDIA GeForce: 581.57 or newer
– AMD Radeon: 25.9.1 or 25.9.2
Note: Some issues have been identified with AMD Radeon drivers versions 25.10.2 and higher.
Note: This information is subject to change at any time due to factors such as NVIDIA and AMD support availability.
Major Additions and Changes
- Improved CPU/GPU processing specific to the Steam version.
- Reduced shader warming processes performed outside the shader compilation screen to lower CPU load.
- Adjusted texture streaming to improve visual quality while reducing VRAM usage.
- Adjusted the High Resolution Texture Pack to reduce VRAM usage and overall package size.
- Added a CPU tab to the Options menu, allowing players to adjust settings related to CPU load.
- Added new categories to the graphics settings, along with new settings for existing options.
- Adjusted graphic presets and added a confirmation window to automatically update your settings on first launch after updating.
- Expanded the Volumetric Fog setting in the graphics options from two levels to five. The previous “High” setting has been renamed to “Highest,” and “Low” to “High,” with three new lower options—”Medium,” “Low,” and “Lowest”—now available.
- Fixed an issue where a warning dialogue incorrectly indicated that the AMD Radeon driver was outdated when using driver version 26.1.1 or later.
Bug Fixes and Balance Adjustments
- Fixed an issue where system load could increase around the Support Desk at Base Camp or the Grand Hub due to claimed content status checks.
- Adjusted Variable Rate Shading behavior so it is forced off during upscaling to maintain proper effect visuals.
- Fixed other miscellaneous issues.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
