Sony Confirms Rise Of Ronin Won't Be Released In South Korea

Sony has confirmed that Koei Tecmo's upcoming PS5 exclusive, Rise of Ronin, is not releasing in South Korea. This comes after reports that the Korean PlayStation Store pulled the game from its listing. A brief search of "Rise of Ronin" confirms that the game is not listed on South Korea's storefront. Sony, the game's publisher, said the game was never officially coming to the country, making the reports of it being pulled unfounded.

In a statement to IGN Japan, Sony Interactive Entertainment said, "Rise of the Ronin for PlayStation 5 was never officially announced for release in Korea. We can confirm that the title is not going to be sold/published in South Korea in any form (physical/digital)."

First reported by the Ruliweb (and explained by Eurogamer), the reason for the game's removal wasn't stated, but it could be because of its premise. Game director Fumuhiko Yasuda spoke about the game's inspirations, which includes the scholar Shoin Yoshida and his influence on the Meiji Restoration.

Yoshida's students ended up in high positions of political power during the Meiji period, which expanded Japan's military power. In 1873, the Meiji government considered Seikanron, which was the idea to invade Korea at the time in order to strengthen Japan. Also known as Jeonghanrok in Korea, Japan ultimately decided not to do it. However, imperial Japan ended up occupying Korea from 1910 to 1945.

With this context in mind, Korean communities have criticized Rise of Ronin, which launches on March 22 exclusively for PlayStation 5.