Capcom announced today that its award-winning RPG Monster Hunter World will be receiving its first expansion, Iceborne, next year. Unexpectedly, the Japanese company also revealed a collaboration with CD Projekt RED that will bring in everyone"s favorite monster hunter from The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, over to Monster Hunter World.
According to Capcom, the Icebourne expansion will bring along massive amounts of new content including "new quest ranks, locales, monsters, moves and gear." It will also serve as a continuation of the base game"s campaign following its ending.
There"s a bit of a wait before players can get their hands on the expansion, however. Icebourne currently has an autumn 2019 release window for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with a PC version planned for sometime later.
In the meantime, The Witcher crossover will be happening in early 2019 as part of a free update. This isn"t just a skin either, as there will be special questlines with new gameplay elements that "blends the immersive RPG experience of The Witcher 3 with Monster Hunter: World." Geralt"s original voice actor Doug Cockle is returning to voice his character for this incursion as well.
Judging by the announcement trailer, it appears Geralt has appeared in this unfamiliar universe thanks to a portal malfunction. This is not The Witcher"s first foray into another world, the character also appeared in Soulcalibur 6 earlier this year as a fighter.
Moreover, for console players who"ve yet to experience its world, a free trial period for Monster Hunter World base game will kick off tomorrow. Available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the trial will run from December 11 at 4pm PST until December 17 at 3:59pm PST, and will offer quests up to 3-star level and multiplayer up to Hunter Rank 4.