Capcom sees the Switch 2 version of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance as a chance to bring back the social ritual of hunters gathering around the same table, while also blurring the line between local and online play.
Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto described that goal in a VGC interview conducted at Tokyo Game Show. He pointed to the culture around portable Monster Hunter entries on PSP and Nintendo 3DS, when groups could meet in one place for local wireless hunts. Because Switch 2 remains portable even when it can also be docked, he expects the new hardware to make that style of play practical again.
Crossplay creates a second same-room option. Tsujimoto used the example of a household with one PlayStation 5 and one Switch 2: two people could sit together and join the same hunt through the game's online backend even though the consoles are not directly linked. He called the result a kind of “cross-platform local” experience.
That distinction matters because local wireless and crossplay solve different problems. A group of Switch 2 owners can connect in the traditional portable format, while mixed-console households can use online infrastructure without giving up the experience of sharing a room.
The interview also covers feedback on the original Wilds release, the work required to make games perform well across hardware and the story time skip planned for Ascendance. Capcom's comments describe possibilities enabled by the Switch 2 version, not a guarantee that every network condition or household setup will behave identically.
