First entering beta phase in 2015 and exclusive to the China gaming community, Tencent Games today announced the closure of Monster Hunter Online. Crafted using CryEngine with IP owner Capcom, payments and new registrations for the game have been disabled earlier today, while the server will officially close on 31 December 2019 (that is a long time). The official reason provided was the contract ending between Tencent Games and Capcom, but in truth Monster Hunter Online was never properly launched nor maintained.
While Monster Hunter: World has yet to be announced for China, I wouldn’t bet against localization being carried out right now. ChinaJoy 2019 is less than 4 months away, and perhaps Tencent Games or Capcom will shock the gamers with a surprise announcement.