MH Wilds' Big Expansion Revives a Day-One Elder Dragon

Lao-Shan Lung hasn't been a real threat since the PSP era. The colossal Elder Dragon was the original Monster Hunter's signature siege fight back in 2004, a lumbering mountain of scales that tested entire lobbies of hunters. And then Capcom basically shelved it. Twenty-plus years later, a silhouette at the tail end of the Ascendance reveal trailer confirmed what longtime fans immediately recognized: Lao-Shan Lung is back.

Capcom unveiled Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance at Summer Game Fest on June 5, calling it a "massive expansion" arriving in 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The expansion follows the template set by Iceborne and Sunbreak before it, adding Master Rank hunts, new monsters, new environments, and expanded weapon movesets. But the setting is what caught my eye. Hunters are leaving the Forbidden Lands entirely and ascending into floating ruins tied to the Wyverian civilization. It's a dramatic shift from the grounded biomes Wilds launched with, and the aerial combat shown in the trailer suggests Capcom is leaning into that verticality.

The Gauntlet Changes Everything

The gameplay footage reveals what appears to be a jet-propelled gauntlet mechanism built into the hunter's slinger. Great sword users were pulling off rapid aerial combos that looked nothing like the weapon's usual commitment-heavy playstyle. If that mobility translates to the full weapon roster, Ascendance could reshape how every weapon class feels at endgame. Gunlance, predictably, seems to have even more ways to launch explosives. I'm curious whether this gauntlet system layers on top of existing movesets or replaces certain combos entirely, because the difference between "new option" and "mandatory upgrade" matters a lot for build diversity.

Kushala Daora is also returning, which will inspire roughly zero excitement from anyone who remembers fighting it in World. Lao-Shan Lung is the real headline. Siege-style Elder Dragon fights have been absent from the series' modern era, and bringing one back with Wilds' updated engine and 16-player server infrastructure could produce something special. Or it could be a glorified damage check. Capcom's track record with Iceborne's Safi'jiiva and Kulve Taroth sieges gives me reason to lean optimistic.

The expansion's announcement also comes with baggage. Monster Hunter Wilds launched in February 2025 with severe performance problems on PC, and Capcom didn't substantially address them until a January 2026 update, nearly a year later. Series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto first confirmed the expansion back in February 2026, so this reveal was expected. But Ascendance needs to ship clean. A second round of performance disasters would undo the goodwill Capcom has slowly rebuilt through patches and free content updates over the past year.

Separately, Capcom confirmed that Monster Hunter Wilds is also coming to Nintendo Switch 2, though the company offered no release date and said only that the port is "currently in development." Given Capcom's existing Switch 2 lineup, which already includes Street Fighter 6 and a stack of Resident Evil ports, the announcement was more formality than surprise. Whether the Switch 2 version launches alongside Ascendance or arrives as a base-game-only port first remains unclear.

Ascendance launches in 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Pricing has not been announced.