Back Up Your Save File Before Installing Monster Hunter World’s Latest Expansion

After several months of console exclusivity, Monster Hunter World’s new Iceborne expansion finally hit PC last night. Unfortunately, the new content update has seemingly resulted in the loss of save files for a number of players. While most players installed the new expansion without any hitches, it’s definitely worth backing up your save file just in case.

Monster Hunter World Iceborne

As reported by VG247, Monster Hunter World’s public discussion threads are filled with complaints regarding loss of save data. ResetEra, Steam forums, and the game’s subreddit are flooding with panicked players reporting not being able to load up old saves.

If you’ve already installed Iceborne and have yet to boot it up, there might still be hope for your save file. According to initial reports, the game only deletes the previous incompatible save after the player launches the game. As such, it’s best you back up your save file before attempting to boot up the game.

This can be done easily enough by just locating the save file on your drive and making a copy. By default, Monster Hunter World on Steam stores files in the user data folder. Navigate to the following path: Steam\userdata\[youruserid]\582010. Additionally, it’s recommended to backup the save data folder located within the game’s directory.

The exact cause of the issue is unknown, but there are a handful of working theories. According to Reddit, prior to Iceborne’s launch, Monster Hunter World made an update changing how save files are stored. As such, returning users playing after the expansion’s launch lost their saves as Iceborne was unable to detect the old, non-updated save format.

Moreover, players who have mods installed should expect nearly all of them to break with Iceborne’s launch. Even if you don’t own the new expansion, you will need to wait for mod makers to release updates before you can continue to use them.

Although a large number of users are affected by this, there’s a good chance you won’t encounter it all. Either way, we still recommend creating a backup of your save file.