Koei Tecmo Says Rise of the Ronin Sales Are Outpacing Nioh Franchise

Koei Tecmo, the developer of Rise of the Ronin, said that the sales of its action RPG title have already outpaced those of the Nioh franchise.

The news came from the company's latest financial report that noted that Rise of the Ronin's sales could usher in a "significant step toward mid- to long-term growth" for the holdings company despite being a new triple-A game.

Rise of the Ronin Sales

Despite the announcement, Koei Tecmo did not release any official sales figures and in 2022, Team Ninja announced that the Nioh series collectively shipped 7 million units globally. In parallel with Koei Tecmo's internal findings of Rise of the Ronin, the financial report also emphasized the acclaim that the game received from critics and players.

The company more specifically cited the game's "very high" user and "generally favorable" Metacritic score. This praised Rise of the Ronin for its combat system, storyline, and visual appeal.

Rise of the Ronin is an open-world action RPG that lets players take control of a nameless ronin going on a dangerous adventure and is set in the mid-19th century era of Japan, according to IGN.

The announcement comes as Rise of the Ronin has been out for more than a month and Koei Tecmo's statement could refer to a similar timeline for the Nioh franchise. Nioh and Nioh 2 sold more than 3 million and 2 million units, respectively, within a month of their release.

Similar to the Nioh games, Rise of the Ronin was published by Sony Interactive as a PlayStation 5 exclusive. There is currently no information regarding a potential port for the PC or if Koei Tecmo will handle publishing for it.

Regardless of the port, the publisher appears to be quite proud of Rise of the Ronin and it was touted as one that "raised the level of our development, technology, and management." Koei Tecmo ended the year with more than $530 million.

Outpacing the Nioh Franchise

The company was found to be up 6.16% from the 2022-2023 year and it remained behind the hopeful target of $600 million. Part of the reason for this is attributed to the higher than expected outsourcing costs along with a title that has been delayed to the 2024-2025 year, said GameDeveloper.

The company also noted that overseas, there were fewer sales for new console titles in general. Japan was found to have contributed to the majority of Koei Tecmo's revenue with $320 million. Following that were Asia with $210 million, North America with $49 million, and Europe with $22.5 million.

The announcement of prospective sales for Rise of the Ronin comes as Nioh 2 still stands out in the soulslike subgenre among fans of hardcore games. On the other hand, the newer title seems to have gone in a direction as Team Ninja opted for an open-world setting.

Earlier this year, there was also some controversy regarding Rise of the Ronin as Sony Interactive itself announced that the action RPG title will not be launched or be available in South Korea, according to GameSpot.