User blog comment:.Rakle./Monster Hunter Online Information Blog Post/@comment-99.113.111.84-20130430063510/@comment-1758220-20130430185604

You have to remember that localizing a game is not as much of an expensive and significant an investment for the developer as creating the game in the first place. They don't need to sell gangbusters to make a profit on a localization like they do on the game's original launch in Japan.

That said, the game does still need to sell a fair amount, but just because it's not selling Halo-tier quantities, doesn't mean it's a failure at all.

On the contrary, every MH game that comes out in the west has performed better than the one before it. Even before launch, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate was attracting far more attention from both the media and common gamers than Tri did, with huge news outlets like IGN and Gamespot featuring MH3U articles on the front page. The brand really is growing in the west, and although we will likely never see it be as big over here as it is in Japan, it's becoming more and more of a worthwhile investment for Capcom with each new game.