Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds Smartphone MMORPG Slated for 2nd Half of 2020

The official website for Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, Netmarble's smartphone game based on Level 5's Ni no Kuni game series, revealed on Thursday that the game is slated to launch in Japan in the second half of 2020.

The story's main character is a beta tester for "Project N," a virtual reality game developed by "Ichi no Kuni's" Mirai Company. The world of "Project N" is known as "Ni no Kuni." The MMORPG will feature real-time hack-and-slash gameplay for both player vs. enemy and player vs. player modes. The game will have five character classes: Rogue, Destroyer, Witch, Engineer, and Swordsman. The development staff of Netmarble's MMORPG Lineage 2: Revolution will develop the game using Unreal Engine 4.

Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds will retain the series' signature animated aesthetic. Gameplay will revolve around a player-based community called a "kingdom" that will allow players to cooperate, compete, and establish guilds. Players can also gather about 100 spirits known as "Imazen" to train them.

Level 5 debuted the fantasy role-playing game Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the black Witch for the PlayStation 3 in Japan in 2011, after a Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madōshi game for Nintendo DS in 2010 and a game for Japanese phones. Namco Bandai Games then released Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the black Witch outside Japan in 2013. The RPG features cut scenes from Studio Ghibli.

A remastered version of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the black Witch launched for PlayStation 4 and PC on September 20, and the original Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the black Witch game's Switch version launched on the same day.

Level 5 released the Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom PS4 and PC game in March 2018.

The franchise inspired an anime film that opened in Japan on August 23.

Source: Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds game's website via Hachima Kikō