Ninjala 2 Director Explains Shift To PvE Open World And Two-Part Release
Ninjala 2: The Unknown Planet arrives in spring 2027 for Nintendo Switch 2 as a buy-to-play title with packaged and download versions.
3 sources Sep 15 Updated
Reporting from 3 sources: Automaton, Game Spark, Inside.
Why it matters
The director connects the two-part structure to price and volume rather than narrative design, describing it as a way for newcomers to the open-world genre to buy a first part and decide on the second afterward.
Key Facts
- Ninjala 2: The Unknown Planet is scheduled for release in spring 2027 on Nintendo Switch 2.
- Ninjala 2 is a buy-to-play title with both a packaged version and a download version, unlike the free-to-play 2020 original.
- Director Motoki Kaneda said development on Ninjala 2 began around 2023 to 2024.
- The Ninjala 2 story ships in two parts, with players buying the first part and the second afterward if satisfied.
- Tokyo Game Show 2026 will offer two Ninjala 2 demo courses across 40 playable stations.
Director Motoki Kaneda told interviewers the sequel abandons the 2020 original's free-to-play PvP battle royale format for a PvE open-world action game set on an unknown planet. Development began around 2023 to 2024, according to Kaneda, once the team wound down full-scale support for the first game. He cited two reasons for the change: a desire to expand the Ninjala IP beyond competitive play, and user survey responses asking to explore the world at their own pace and fight alongside friends. The story will ship in two parts, with players buying the first and then the second if satisfied. Exploration, crafting, character growth, and four-player co-op are included.
Kaneda described the setting as moving from Earth to an unknown planet, with multiple biomes including grasslands, forests, and wastelands. He could not detail their individual traits yet and asked players to wait for follow-up reports.
The main quest follows a single connected line from beginning to end, with subquests arranged around it. Kaneda said the number of subquests is large and they appear in the field rather than only at the WNA Academy, including non-combat ones such as time attack and a photo shooting course where players help NPCs. Puzzles are limited. "As for puzzles, or rather puzzle-solving, our direction is not to prepare very many," he said.
Combat keeps the series' gum motif. "Gum Bind" covers an enemy in gum after enough successful Gum Shoot or just guards, letting players grab and throw them or send them flying with "Gum Rush." Returning "Gum Ninjutsu" from the first game include Ninja Tornado and rocket fire, plus a new technique that summons a robot. Gum Hook, once locked onto an opponent, now flies wherever the player aims. A "Gum Rail" move lets players draw a rail and slide on a skateboard, and craftable jump pads stack height.
On release format, Kaneda said the previous game's free-to-play model suited PvP, but the open-world console direction did not call for that monetization, and packaged pricing gives parents certainty about what children can play.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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