Ragnarok: The New World Sets Japan Launch for First Half of 2027
GungHo Online Entertainment announced on November 13 that Ragnarok: The New World will begin service in Japan in the first half of 2027.
2 sources 1h ago
Reporting from 2 sources: 4Gamer.net, Denfaminicogamer.
Why it matters
GungHo is putting a 20-year-old MMORPG brand on a seamless open world for the first time, and the PC version in the plan means the Japanese release is not a mobile-only revival.
Key Facts
- Ragnarok: The New World is planned for iOS, Android, and PC and will be free to play with some paid items.
- Ragnarok: The New World is the first Ragnarok Online series title to use a seamless open world.
- Ragnarok Online has a history of more than 20 years and a cumulative user count above roughly 100 million, according to Denfaminicogamer.
- GungHo publishes Ragnarok: The New World for the Japanese domestic service under a copyright credited to Gravity Co., Ltd. and Lee MyoungJin (studio DTDS).
The MMORPG is planned for iOS, Android, and PC, with a free-to-play model that includes some paid items. It is the first entry in the Ragnarok Online series to use a seamless open world, letting players move freely across a large map. The game keeps series staples: flexible character builds, item trading through street stalls, and boss fights fought alongside other players. GungHo says the game uses updated graphics and technology while carrying over elements from earlier Ragnarok Online titles. The publisher says more details will be announced as they are decided. The announcement covers the Japanese domestic service, and the game is published by GungHo under a license from Gravity.
GungHo president and CEO Kazuya Sakai heads the company that will run the game, and the copyright line credits Gravity Co., Ltd. and Lee MyoungJin (studio DTDS). The Japanese press materials give the title a short nickname, "Ragnyu," alongside the series' own long-standing abbreviation "RO."
The framing around the project is nostalgic. The press release describes the game as "a work that could truly be called a culmination, condensing the charms of the successive RO titles," and invites "adventurers who once traveled through RO and those visiting this world for the first time" to set out together.
Scale context for the brand: Ragnarok Online is described as a long-established MMORPG with more than 20 years of history, and the series' cumulative user count exceeds roughly 100 million, with the original still in service. The screenshots shown are labeled as in development and may change without notice, and the basic information block applies to the domestic Japanese service only. An overseas version already has a Steam store page, which is where the accompanying image came from.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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