According to reports, Sony Interactive Entertainment has canceled the release of the upcoming Rise of the Ronin game from Team Ninja, but only in South Korea. The PlayStation 5 exclusive puts players in 19th-century Japan reveling in turmoil, and this setting might be why it isn’t getting released in Korea.
The open-world setting of Rise of the Ronin is a vast departure from older games from Team Ninja like Nioh, Wo Long Fallen Dynasty, and Ninja Gaiden. Although it isn’t exactly taking a page from Elden Ring’s book, it intends to tell a story in a fully explorable wartorn Japan. Although there has been no official confirmation as to why the game won’t be released in South Korea, the running theory is that this is somehow related to the 19th-century scholar Shoin Yoshida, who is not exactly liked in Korea.
Rise of the Ronin Will Not Be Released In South Korea For Historical Reasons
Yoshida was one of the people who wanted to take over Korea, which would then be ruled by Japan from 1910 to 1945. He was credited for restoring the imperial rule in Japan in 1868.
According to the producer of Rise of the Ronin at Team Ninja, Fumihiko Yasuda, Shoin Yoshida is akin to the famous Greek Philosopher Socrates. He said that although that was a different world in a different time period, Yoshida was similar to Socrates. Yasuda wanted to showcase Yoshida’s teachings ever since he got to start working on the game.
This is going to be a sizable blow to the total sales of Rise of the Ronin, but since it is tied to the subject matter of the game, there is no chance that it will be changed for the Korean Market.
The upcoming action RPG, Rise of the Ronin, will be released on March 22, 2024, but of course, everywhere except South Korea.
