Rise of the Ronin, is the best selling title from Koei Tecmo Games thus far, according to the game director.
During a recent interview, Rise of the Ronin director Fumihiko Yasuda was asked about the game being mentioned in Koei Tecmo Games’ recent financial report as having better initial sales performance than Nioh. In response, Yasuda shared that Rise of the Ronin is now the best-selling title from Koei Tecmo Games so far. This is an impressive achievement, especially considered that the game is currently only available on PS5.
Yasuda mentioned that sales of Rise of the Ronin have been moving steadily, and he feels that the game is reaching a wide audience. The development team appears to be pleased with its performance, and expects to see the momentum continue in the long-term.
In response to a question regarding elements that were prioritized in designing Rise of the Ronin, producer Yosuke Hayashi mentioned that, when considering an open-world game after Nioh, the development team aimed for historical immersion. Yasuda further added that, unlike Nioh, which had fantasy elements, Rise of the Ronin focused more on historical accuracy. Hayashi mentioned that Team Ninja started with creating Yokohama because it was a mix of Western and Eastern influences. Initially, it was a linear field instead of an open world, which the development team later revised for a more open-ended design. Yasuda added that the team initially designed it with limited movement, and later added jumping and grappling hooks to make it more dynamic. According to him, Yokohama took the most amount of trial-and-error to build.
As for why the development team chose the Bakumatsu period as Rise of the Ronin’s setting, Yasuda said that he wanted a change from the usual Sengoku period, and the Bakumatsu offered dynamic action with firearms and familiar historical figures. He shared that this decision was made back in 2017, before the release of the first Nioh title.
