Japanese game Ronin sparks controversy over glorifying 'Jeonghanron' ideology... decides not to release in Korea on schedule

The domestic official release of "Rise of the Ronin (Ronin)," developed by the Japanese game company Team Ninja, has been canceled. Previously, controversy arose when a key figure from Team Ninja made remarks glorifying a Japanese thinker who advocated for Seikanron (the conquest of the Korean Peninsula and continental expansion).

According to industry sources on the 13th, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has decided not to officially release the disc and digital versions of Ronin in the domestic market. SIE began pre-orders for Ronin in December last year and obtained a rating from the Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) for domestic release. It is also known that localization work supporting Korean subtitles was completed.

However, the problem arose when Director Yasuda Fumihiko, who was in charge of overall production of Ronin, made glorifying remarks about Yoshida Shoin in a post-development video. He said about Yoshida Shoin, "In Japan, he is considered a figure comparable to Socrates," and added, "I want to depict his way of life and his words within Ronin."

Ronin is an open-world action-adventure game set in 19th-century Japan, just before the Meiji Restoration, and is scheduled for release on Sony's PlayStation (PS) platform in March. Currently, pre-orders for Ronin are not available with Korean accounts on the PS Store, and there is no Korean language page. Following the controversy over glorification, there is speculation that Sony canceled the domestic release of Ronin in response to the issue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.