Expeditions: Samurai Gameplay Trailer Shows Stealth, Co-Op, and Turn-Based Combat
The inclusion of a historical consultant and the library research phase signals a deliberate effort to ground the game's Sengoku setting in documented history, a departure from the series' previous focus on other eras.
Key Facts
- THQ Nordic released the Expeditions: Samurai gameplay trailer on July 28, 2026.
- Expeditions: Samurai enters early access on Steam on August 7, 2026.
- The game is set in late Sengoku period Japan around 1600 and features stealth, dialogue, and turn-based combat.
- Expeditions: Samurai includes the series' first two-player co-op mode.
- Development is by Campfire Cabal, with Jonas Wæver as creative director, and a historical consultant was brought in.
Reporting from 3 sources: GAME Watch (Impress), 4Gamer.net, Game Spark.
THQ Nordic released a gameplay trailer for Expeditions: Samurai on July 28, 2026, ahead of the game's early access launch on Steam on August 7. The historical RPG is set in late Sengoku period Japan, around 1600, as a century of warfare moves toward its end. The player leads a privateer crew aboard the Dutch frigate De Albatros, arriving in Japan as a European before the historical figure William Adams, who was the first European granted the title of samurai. The trailer shows stealth assassinations, building infiltrations using items as diversions, dialogue-based negotiation, turn-based battles, and the series' first two-player co-op mode. Development is handled by Campfire Cabal, which includes staff from Logic Artists who worked on earlier Expeditions titles, with Jonas Wæver returning as creative director. A second development video log explains that the team began work in a library to deepen its understanding of the period and brought in a historical consultant. A roadmap detailing early access content and update plans is expected before launch.
The trailer's release comes less than two weeks before early access begins, and THQ Nordic has said a roadmap covering launch content and future updates will be published before the August 7 start. The game is the latest in the Expeditions series, which has previously explored other historical periods, and Campfire Cabal includes veterans of Logic Artists, the studio behind earlier entries.
The setting places the player in Japan around 1600, a period the sources describe as the end of over a century of conflict. The player character arrives on the Dutch frigate De Albatros, leading a privateer crew, and the story precedes the historical arrival of William Adams, the navigator who became the first European to receive the title of samurai. The gameplay shown includes sneaking up on enemies for assassinations, using items to create diversions while infiltrating buildings, and resolving situations through dialogue choices.
The second development video log, released recently, explains that the team started work in a library to build understanding of the era and that a historical consultant was brought in to support the project. The game supports two-player co-op for the first time in the series, a feature confirmed in the trailer.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.