Monster Hunter Wilds will have a spider-free mode for those with arachnophobia

Spider-dislikes, your concerns have been noted. At least from Capcom. The developers of Monster Hunter Wilds are adding an option to the upcoming beast-skinning action RPG that transforms all arachnid-style monsters into something much less creepy and/or crawly.

The spider-free option was discovered by players of the PlayStation Plus beta test (as Automaton noted). The accessibility options say “Help with Arachnophobia” and read: “Customize the appearance of multi-legged creatures such as arachnids, insect-like small monsters, and endemic creatures.” The description also notes that this does not change the difficulty level or the “movements of the Creatures” change.

So how do you deal with eight-legged monsters? They naturally become slimes. As Automaton notes, only small monsters seem to be considered so far. It's not clear how larger monsters with spider-like legs are modified, if at all. What is considered “spiderlike” anyway? When your game is full of hybrid creatures that take inspiration from all sorts of wild animals, it can be difficult to define the boundary at which a phobia sets in.

Monster Hunter Wilds isn't the first game to do something like this. Even this week, Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 came out with an Arachnophobia mode in its Zombies campaign. Meanwhile, shrunken survival game Grounded features an extensive Arachnophobia mode that lets you disable or enable every single element of what makes a spider scary. For example, you can get rid of the legs but keep the fangs. Or just turn it into a harmless pair of balls.

The PC beta for Monster Hunter Wilds doesn't launch on Steam until October 31st, so we can't explore the monstrous wilderness for ourselves just yet. But if you play, you'll be able to import your character when the full game releases on February 28 next year (actual progress in the game's opening chapter won't be saved, though, Capcom says).