Nioh 3 isn't trying to be an Elden Ring behemoth: producer says with a true open-world map "it would no longer be Nioh 3," but tighter "open-field" design makes it shine

Last night's State of Play affirmed to me that Team Ninja simply doesn't stop. Rise of the Ronin was released just over a year ago (with a PC Port showing up a few months back), the studio released Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and a new Dead or Alive dating sim earlier this year, and the team is working on Ninja Gaiden 4 with Platinum Games. Now, though, the mad lads have only gone and announced that Nioh 3 is on the way.

However, despite Rise of the Ronin being an open-world release, Team Ninja has confirmed that Nioh won't be following in its footsteps. Speaking to 4Gamer (translated by Automaton) Nioh 3’s general producer Fumihiko Yasuda talked about the decision to go with what they call "open-field" design as opposed to a full-blown open world.

The original Nioh Games were more linear than this upcoming sequel is pegged to be, and Yasuda claims that the studio did this in service of creating "a seamlessly connected Nioh" to give players the freedom to explore.

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However, when it comes to a proper open world, Yasuda said the team thinks that style would be contradictory to what Nioh is, describing it as "a dense, die-and-retry experience." He adds, "If we were to dilute the map’s density to capture the vastness of an open world, it would no longer be Nioh 3. If we’re making Nioh 3, the density and craftmanship of the gameplay are non-negotiable."

The team is balancing this out for Nioh 3 with the introduction of hells, which are areas within the larger map that are densely packed and challenging, much like an original Nioh level. Hells are described by Team Ninja as "high-risk, high-reward zones" and are "areas corrupted by the intense spiritual energy of yokai."

But you'll be able to see that for yourself, because despite releasing in 2026, Nioh 3 has a demo available right now if you can pull yourself away from that Switch 2 .

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