‘Nioh’ Studio To Make Open-World Japan-Set RPG ‘Rise of the Ronin’

Team Ninja, the studio responsible for developing the action role-playing Nioh franchise, is working on a new title. Rise of the Ronin is a combat-focused action RPG that takes place in an open-world Japan.

The game takes place at the tail end of the 300-year-long Edo Period, often referred to as “Bakumatsu,” when Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy and opened itself up to the West.

“Set in the late 19th century, Japan is facing the darkest of times as it struggles with its oppressive rulers and deadly diseases while western influence permeates as civil war continues to rage between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Anti-Shogunate factions,” Team Ninja described in its announcement.

Users will play as a Ronin character, a warrior independent from the orders of any master. True to the precedent Team Ninja set with the combat-heavy Nioh, Ronin users will wield Katanas, firearms and more weapons specific to the 1863 time period.

Team Ninja called the project its most challenging to date and said that in addition to combat, developers are committed to creating a layered narrative that reflects the complexity of the Bakumatsu period.

Rise of the Ronin is expected to launch in 2024 as a PlayStation exclusive.

In other gaming news, Rockstar Games has issued a statement on the Grand Theft Auto VI leak.