As Monster Hunter Wilds finally approaches, veteran dev says making a new monster "takes about one year," and that's not counting "small, detailed adjustments"

gamesradar.com:

If you've ever wondered how long it takes to create just one of the many monsters in Capcom's iconic Monster Hunter series, then you may be surprised to learn that it takes longer than you probably expected, according to one Monster Hunter Wilds dev.

In an interview with Screen Rant, art director Kaname Fujioka spoke about the process of creating a new monster, stating that, while different monsters may take different amounts of time to make, "each monster takes roughly a year from start to finish", though this can jump up significantly in the case of certain special monsters. "It obviously depends on the monster." he explains, before adding that "The flagship monster for Monster Hunter Wilds obviously took a very long time because it has to do with the story of the game".

Rather than making each monster one by one, Fujioka states that they are designed in parallel, which can make it hard to tell how long certain monsters took to be created, but estimates most will take roughly a year. "Typically an average from planning a monster, designing it, making a model, animation, it usually takes about one year for a monster. If you add adjusting to it, small, detailed adjustments, it'll obviously take longer. But that's a rough timeline."

Fujioka also notes that certain types of monsters are more challenging to design than others, noting that they had previously struggled to create "octopus-type monsters with those kinds of flexible arms", but that the team had managed to pull it off for Monster Hunter Wilds. 

For Fujioka, it's worth spending a lot of time creating every monster because he wants players to have a personal connection to them. "When creating monsters, we want to focus on how each person will be able to find their own favorite monster", before declaring Arkveld to be his own personal favorite because of how long it took to make, and because "it's a flashy monster." 

Be sure to check out our hands-on preview of Monster Hunter Wilds to see what we made of