Monster Hunter Wilds' Free Switch 2 Demo Offers Local Co-op

The free Monster Hunter Wilds demo on Nintendo Switch 2 supports local wireless co-op, and your save data carries over directly to the full Switch 2 release on December 4. Capcom’s Prologue Demo arrives October 19 (Pacific Time), and all 14 weapon types are playable.

It’s set in a world of rapidly changing environments, where monsters and people try to coexist. The demo starts at character creation, where you build your own hunter, and runs through the prologue to Chapter 1-3, “To the Forest,” with the same content as the full game.

The demo has no online play and no Photo Mode. Send up an SOS Flare during a quest and NPC Support Hunters answer instead of other players. Hunting with a friend runs over local wireless between Switch 2 consoles, a feature only the Switch 2 version has.

The full Switch 2 release supports online play and crossplay with players on other platforms. Preorders open around the same time as the demo. It comes digitally in Standard and Gold Editions, and physically as a Deluxe Edition on a Game-Key Card. The PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S versions launched in February 2025.

With all 14 weapons in and the content matching the full game, you could have a main weapon picked out before December 4. Local co-op also means you could clear the early hunts with a friend before the full release arrives.

Language: English
Players: Single-player / Online co-op / Cross-platform multiplayer
Age rating: ESRB T
As of October 15, 2026