Three Capcom team members confirmed to Gamespot via interview that Monster Hunter World will not include loot boxes, and instead focus on "the experience." This comes as games like Middle Earth: Shadow of War and Call of Duty: WW2 struggle to distance themselves from their loot box controversies. While Monster Hunter World may seem ripe for loot boxes, with its core gameplay loop of killing monsters to get parts to craft better gear and weapons seeming fit for loot boxes, series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto doesn't see it as a right move for the series:

I think that Monster Hunter has already built that kind of randomized, item reward into the gameplay[.] Whenever you carve a monster after a hunt, you don't know what you're gonna get within a certain range. You've got certain rare parts that you almost never get. You've got some of the ones you don't need that you get a lot of. And then there are the rewards for the quest as well. There are some [rewards] that are standard, there are some that are randomized, and a bit bigger or smaller chance of getting them.

The interview continues with statements from game directors Yuuya Tokuda and Kaname Fujioka. All three effectively agreed that creating a better experience in Monster Hunter World would be preferable to shoehorning in loot boxes. Tokuda adds that part of the Monster Hunter experience is not only the tools you craft and monsters you takedown, but the skills that come with them. He says that "skipping out on the part where you get better and hunt--if you're simply getting more items--I don't think that'll be a very satisfying experience for players[.]"

While it could be seen as Capcom arguing in favor of grinding, longtime Monster Hunter fans will undoubtedly appreciate that there is no easy route to success. If anything, Capcom is only reinforcing the idea of "the experience." By taking out a core satisfaction derived from hunting bigger and nastier monsters, all three argue instead that it would take away from the hard work put forth by their teams.

The fact that this statement is coming from Capcom of all developers may come as a surprise to some. Both Street Fighter V and more recently Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite lean more towards nickel-and-diming players than not. On-disk DLC, padding out character and stage rosters well after release, and not being forthcoming about DLC practices hasn't exactly put Capcom in the good graces of many, but Monster Hunter World at least seems to be avoiding past controversies. Monster Hunter World launches worldwide on January 26th for both PS4 and Xbox One, with a PC release to follow.