Nioh 2 Releases March 2020, Open Beta Begins This Weekend

Team Ninja has announced the release date for Nioh 2: March 13, 2020. If you're itching to try out the game earlier than that, an open beta will begin this weekend.

"I know many of you have been waiting and we thank you for your patience while we worked to set an official date," Team Ninja producer Fumihiko Yasuda wrote in a blog post. "One of the primary reasons for not rushing to set a launch date was to ensure that we can achieve a genuine evolution from Nioh, which to us meant that we needed to bring in fresh new elements while retaining the things that we felt were right from the first game."

From November 1-10, you'll be able to download Nioh 2's open beta from the PlayStation Store. You don't have to sign up anywhere--all players can jump in and experience Nioh 2's character creator, environments, and new weapons (like the Switchglaive).

The open beta begins in a safe zone where you're able to test out the attack patterns of different weapons. "This place [the Interim] was designed and based on the Tibetan Buddhist concept of intermediate, transitional state between life and death," Yasuda wrote. "I'm actually very fond of the environment we created which is modeled after the Sanzu river surrounded in tranquility (similar to the River Styx from Greek mythology)."

From there, you can move on to one of Nioh 2's levels, a location that's based on Sunomata castle. If you can beat it before the open beta ends, you'll earn The Mark of the Demon Slayer--which will reward you with a special helmet to wear in the game when it officially comes out next March.

Pre-orders for Nioh 2 are officially live, starting today. If you're still on the fence about buying the game early, PlayStation Plus members can download the original Nioh for free starting November 5--a deal that will continue through the month.