Monster Hunter to Collaborate with the City of Sakai in Osaka!
– Capcom aims to promote the appeal of historic, culture-rich Sakai by leveraging Japan’s preeminent game brand –

Capcom Co., Ltd. (Capcom) today announced that a collaboration event featuring its popular game series Monster Hunter will be held in conjunction with the city of Sakai in the Osaka Prefecture beginning July 2022^*1.

The Monster Hunter series consists of hunting action games that pit players against giant monsters in a beautiful natural environment. Beginning with the first title in 2004, the series established a new genre in which players cooperate to hunt ferocious monsters with their friends and has since grown into a global phenomenon with cumulative sales of the series exceeding 78 million units shipped as of December 31, 2021. Further, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, a massive premium expansion for Monster Hunter Rise, is scheduled to be released on June 30, 2022.

This collaboration came to be after Capcom, a company that has a record of accomplishments in leveraging its game content in local revitalization efforts and which is headquartered in the Osaka Prefecture (where Sakai is located), received a request from the city of Sakai to collaborate in order to better appeal to people of all ages in the city’s program. Sakai aims to promote culture and generate tourism in the city by communicating its rich history and traditions to the youth demographic. Points of interest include tea ceremony culture, made famous by historical figure Sen no Rikyu, as well as groups of mounded tombs known as the Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group, a World Heritage Site.

Tentatively titled "Monster Hunter×Sakai no Hamonoten" (or, "Monster Hunter×Blades of Sakai Exhibition") the collaborative exhibition will be located in the Sakai Plaza of Rikyu and Akiko (Sakai, Osaka) beginning in early July 2022^*1 and will feature a to-scale replica^*2 of the Long Sword from the Monster Hunter series, which has a blade reaching 2.2 meters in length, as well as cultural relics in the form of swords owned by the Sakai City Museum. In addition to the exhibit displaying original artwork of hunter weapons and armor that appear in the game, it will feature matchlock guns from Sakai, a city that once flourished as a major center of firearms production, promising to be an event that appeals not only to game fans but to a wide breadth of interests, including history buffs. Moreover, a photo rally is also scheduled, in which participants can enjoy a scenic tour around Sakai and receive original novelty gifts.

Driven by its philosophy of being a Creator of Entertainment Culture that Stimulates Your Senses, Capcom will work to address climate change and other issues facing society while aiming for sustainable growth through establishing a relationship of trust with its stakeholders and harmony with the environment.

*1 Date may be subject to change pending factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
*2 A model made of metal and not a sword that would fall under the Firearms and Swords Control Law of Japan.

[ Collaboration Summary ]

[ Details for the home video game Monster Hunter series ]