Monster Hunter Wilds kept its hunts on the ground. Ascendance takes them to ruins floating above the clouds

A trailer ran during the September 3 State of Play for Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, the massive expansion to Monster Hunter Wilds [1]. Monster Hunter Wilds is Capcom’s hunting action game: you track and bring down enormous beasts, then build weapons and armor from what they leave behind so you can go after something worse. In this expansion the hunting ground leaves the ground.

The post announcing it went up on PlayStation.Blog, which Sony runs, written by Capcom, and PS5 is the only platform named anywhere in its text [1]. Capcom’s own site fills that field differently: PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S and Steam, with cross-play supported [2]. As of September 3, 2026 the release window stops at 2027, and neither document carries a price.

The Expedition Team loses first, then builds

The story picks up past the ending of the base game. Lao-Shan Lung, a colossal Elder Dragon, appears without warning in the Forbidden Lands, and the Expedition Team’s hunters are left powerless as the devastation unfolds [1][2]. Several years pass. The Guild and the people of the Eastlands build Madoi Stronghold together, bracing for the dragon’s return, and that is where the new story starts [1][2].

Nata, the young Keeper who became an apprentice hunter in the base game, is now a full member of the Expedition Team and steps into the fray with his Wudwud partner Bangard [1]. The work handed to hunters is investigating the ecological disturbances that Lao-Shan Lung’s arrival set in motion: abnormalities in the Forbidden Lands, the sudden expansion of Guardian Monster habitats, and the emergence of Elder Dragons [1].

What the clearing mist put on the map

The mist that once shrouded Wyveria’s skies finally lifts, and a network of ancient ruins turns up far overhead. That is the Skybound Eyrie, a locale floating high above the clouds, with lush open landscapes, ancient ruins and endemic life never seen in the Forbidden Lands [1][2]. Updrafts run through it, and hunters can ride them on their Seikret to glide [2].

Two new monsters carry names so far. Araketa is a large Bird Wyvern that lives in packs across the Skybound Eyrie. A unique organ in its wings stores air, and the bursts it releases send it across long distances at speed, which is where its title, the Jetstream Wyvern, comes from. Pack leaders emit distinctive calls that let them command and coordinate the rest [1][2]. Gundoraja is a newly discovered Elder Dragon that bends the storm to its will, titled the Black Sky’s Wrath, and it emerges from the darkest clouds over the Skybound Eyrie [1][2].

Capcom’s monster page adds one returning face: Kushala Daora, the Elder Dragon armored in hard metallic scales that shields itself in fierce winds so nothing can approach [2]. The PlayStation.Blog post names only Araketa and Gundoraja as new, and mentions no other additions to the roster [1].

One bracer, fourteen weapons

The combat addition is a piece of equipment called the Boost Bracer, which enables new abilities via the Hunter’s Slinger. Activating it temporarily raises the hunter’s combat capabilities, and the part Capcom stresses is that it amplifies the particular characteristics and strengths of each of the 14 weapon types [1].

The loop reads as follows. A Boost Driver, a powerful new attack, creates an opening, and the temporary Boost that follows enhances your actions while you press the advantage [1][2]. Capcom calls the package Boosted Action [2]. The expansion also introduces Master Rank, a quest rank tougher than anything in the base game [2].

A weapon a day until September 15

One dated item is running right now. In a Steam announcement on September 2, Capcom posted two introductory videos for the Boost Bracer: an overview of Boosted Actions, and a breakdown of what the bracer adds to the Great Sword. Until Tuesday, September 15, the company says it will post a daily video covering each weapon type on the official X account, @MH_Wilds. The same notice adds that the scheduled release dates may change [3].

The entry conditions can be cleared in advance. Ascendance requires the base game, plus completion of the 7-star assignment “Awaking From a Dream” (Chapter 6-1) in it [2][3]. PlayStation.Blog adds Hunter Rank 40 to that pair, and says both are needed to start the story and enter Master Rank when it launches in 2027 [1].

For anyone without the base game, a free Monster Hunter Wilds Prologue Demo is on PlayStation Store now. It covers creating a Hunter and Palico, the opening stretch of the story, and all 14 weapon types, and its save data carries over to the full game [1].

What Capcom has not filled in is the month in 2027 and the price. The weapon actions are not fully public either, and the post says only that more abilities per weapon type and further mechanics will be revealed later [1]. Until September 15 a video goes up each day, so the schedule for your own weapon is something to check on that account rather than wait for [3].

Sources

[1] Joseph Bustos (Capcom USA). Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance reveals new monsters, story details, and gameplay. PlayStation.Blog, September 3, 2026.

[2] CAPCOM. MONSTER HUNTER WILDS:ASCENDANCE official site. Capcom, accessed September 3, 2026.

[3] CAPCOM. Get a glimpse of the action of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance!. Steam announcement, September 2, 2026.