Monster Hunter: World Iceborne - Your top questions answered

So, Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne launches worldwide on console on September 6th, 2019.

For PC gamers, there's a little bit of a wait for your version as Iceborne is set to launch on Steam PC in January 2020.

Worth asking, but unfortunately this isn't like the free updates and events previously seen in Monster Hunter: World.

Iceborne is a paid-for expansion that requires the MHW base game in order to play it. From the console prices, you're looking at around $30 to $40. If you don't own MHW, there's the 'Master Edition' which includes both the base game and the Iceborne expansion.

We got hands on with the Xbox version of the Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne beta recently, but it doesn't look like gamers will be able to fight Nargacuga until the full game. The beta for PlayStation and Xbox featured four different hunts focusing on Great Jagras, Banbaro, Tigrex and the new elder dragon, Velkhana.

Nargacuga, a Flying Wyvern that first appeared in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, makes a welcome return in the Iceborne expansion.

As mentioned above, Iceborne introduces the Hoarfrost Reach, which will be the biggest ecosystem in the game to date. From early reports, you'll be getting an extra 20-30 hours of hunting time during the new story, with hours and hours of replayability.

Capcom confirmed that the expansion will need around 30GB of free disk space in order to install it, which gives you a clear picture of how much content is packed into this highly anticipated DLC.

Including new, returning, sub-species and variants, Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne adds an additional 27 large monsters to the roster - on top of the 31 large monsters already in the MHW base game!

You can check out all of the large monsters confirmed for Iceborne in our blog post.

It hasn't been confirmed for Iceborne, but Monster Hunter: World can be played offline without internet connection, so we suspect that this will be the case for the expansion too.

If you want to play Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne, you will need to complete the story in MHW, which grants you Hunter Rank 16. This is the minimum level needed to venture into Iceborne's content, but if you do pick up the expansion - or purchase the base game and expansion together - you'll be able to jump into it immediately after completing the final elder dragon battle in MHW.

Plus, Iceborne brings new features that can be used in MHW like the Jagras rider, allowing Hunters to ride the small lizards and search for tracks, and the Clutch Claw, which allows you to grapple onto large monsters.

In addition, the expansion also brings the new difficulty mechanics into play, where players joining and now leaving quests will later how challenging the hunt will be.

Indeed you can!

The Monster Hunter: World - Iceborne beta for both console platforms allows you to embark on the four varied hunting quests in both single-player and multiplayer.