In China, the MMORPG Sword of Justice has many fans, and now it is set to come to the West as well. The developers have now revealed the first trailer and information about the game.
What kind of MMORPG is this? Sword of Justice is a free-to-play MMORPG from publisher NetEase. It is themed around a Wuxia world set in 12th century China and is reminiscent of games like Swords of Legends Online or World of Jade Dynasty.
In China, the MMORPG reportedly reached 40 million players in the first month and over 1.1 million pre-registrations on the first day, according to publisher NetEase. Although there is no exact release date yet, the publisher has now planned for Sword of Justice to be released in the West as well. The MMORPG will be available on PC, Android, and iOS.
Sword of Justice aims to provide a huge open world that is visually impressive thanks to ray tracing and a partnership with NVIDIA. The developers focus on the interplay between light and shadow and elaborate reflections.
You can see what the new MMORPG looks like here in the trailer:
Good Looks and Good Tech
What features does the MMORPG offer? Besides its beautiful appearance, Sword of Justice also has special technical features. One of them is a dynamic weather system that is supposed to create an immersive environment. However, the innovative NPC system stands out as a special highlight.
With the help of China’s AI chatbot DeepSeek, the NPCs are said to possess their own identities, memories, and the ability to provide dynamic responses. This means that the NPCs can individually react to events and player actions.
However, the extent to which this technology is mature and how much of the Chinese competition to ChatGPT is integrated into the MMORPG is still unclear. There are concerns regarding data protection with DeepSeek, and in countries like Italy, the AI assistant is completely banned (via Handelsblatt).
What will the gameplay be like? The developers are focusing on the classic elements of the genre for gameplay. Players are supposed to explore an open world, fight mythical beasts and bandits in dungeons, and loot and level up.
In combat, Sword of Justice is going in the direction of Blade and Soul and aims to offer martial arts battles with fluid animations. However, the trailer also shows weapons, magical attacks, and abilities.
While the MMORPG offers over 100 hours of content for single players thanks to AI companions, more sociable gamers are also intended to have their fun. Therefore, Sword of Justice plans to introduce guilds, a mentoring system, and other communities right from the start, helping players connect.
How is the game being received? Sword of Justice attracts players with Free2Play and no Pay2Win (via NetEaseGames.com). The trailer on YouTube has been viewed by about one million people within a day, and on the website SwordofJustice.com, there were already over 350,000 registrations during this period.
Other videos on the YouTube channel of the MMORPG, however, receive less attention, with only a few hundred views recorded, and in the comments under the trailer on YouTube, there are only a few fans.
For fans of Wuxia MMORPGs, the new Sword of Justice could also become a hit here. This theme park world hasn’t been around since Swords of Legends, even though it’s very popular in China. Additionally, the girlfriend of MeinMMO author Cedric Holmeier has been waiting for a replacement since then: I got my girlfriend into playing MMORPGs, and now she’s mad at me
