Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate has shipped over one million units - in combined retail and digital - since its release in North America and Europe on February 13th, 2015, Capcom has announced.

Having become the most accessible title for the series, the game has become both the fastest selling and highest rated Monster Hunter title in the west. To date, the entire monster Hunter series has sold more then 32 million copies. But while the series has also enjoyed extremely high popularity in its homeland of Japan, the West has lagged behind thanks in part to a perception that the games aren’t very welcoming to newcomers. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was designed from the start to change that, with improved tutorials, a smoother difficulty curve and an overall more friendly and accessible approach.

In Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, players take control of a hunter travelling to new lands and fighting off monsters, who you then skin and use to craft better gear. As well as including over a hundred quests and hundreds of gameplay hours, you can also join up with friends and play online. Playing online unlocks special missions not found in the single-player game, and is where the meat of the Monster Hunter experience typically resides.

In celebration of the milestone, a special 3DS theme will be available to downloaded in May as a token of appreciation. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is currently available on all 3Ds systems, but added functionality, improved graphics and customizable controls are available exclusively for the new 3DS systems thanks to the benefits of more powerful hardware.

Next up for the Monster Hunter series is 3DS exclusive Monster Hunter Stories, which restyles the popular franchise in a manner closely resembling an anime movie. It’s due out in Japan next year, but a release in the West is yet to be confirmed.

Nic Bunce reviewed Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate for Continue Play, awarding it 9/10 and championing it as one of the best Monster Hunter games in the series.

“Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is easily the most accessible Monster Hunter game ever made, but that accessibility hasn’t come at the expense of the staggering depth that the series is known for,” Nic wrote in his Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate review.