Have you been holding out for a potential Xbox One port of the Team Ninja Souls-like game,ÂNioh? It is currently landlocked on PC and PS4, with no sign of being ported to the Microsoft hardware. Well good news–Japanese publisher Koei Tecmo isn’t counting it out of the realm of plausibility. They just want fans of the game to show them that it is in demand.News comes by way of Koei Tecmo Europe earlier this week. In a Tweet discussing some of the Backward Compatible Koei Tecmo titles available on Xbox One, a fan asked a passing question: “any chance we might seeÂNiohÂsomeday [on Xbox One] down the line?”
These kind of comments (often derided as “port begging”) come frequently, especially to console-exclusive developers and publishers. However, instead of ignoring the question, Koei Tecmo Europe chimed in saying that “anything’s possible.” More importantly, fans ofÂNiohÂjust have to show the publisher that they want it.
While this suggestion is certainly vague, it is good news nonetheless. This request is frequent among publishers (and Community Managers working for publishers) – if the fanbase can show that there is a demand that would cover the cost of the port, they will normally be willing to make the business expenses necessary to bring the game over. In fact, we saw similar language from Capcom when they suggested that the potential of aÂResident Evil 3Âremake “begins with the fans.”
If you are wondering how to support this message and show Koei Tecmo that there is an audience forÂNiohÂon Xbox One, a grassroots social media campaign would be the best bet–while it feels like a century ago, that tactic by fan campaign Operation Rainfall helped in gettingÂXenoblade Chronicles,ÂThe Last Story, andÂPandora’s TowerÂported in the West.
Of course–this opens up the obvious question of “What about PlayStation?” While in Japan the game was published by Koei Tecmo, publishing Worldwide was carried out by Sony Interactive Entertainment. And to be honest, that isn’t totally clear – perhaps this means that potential port would be handled exclusively in Japan? Or, more likely, it is a comment from a CM unaware of the business dealings.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to play throughÂNioh, it is one of the latest critical and financial successes of Koei Tecmo and developer Team Ninja. A recent account of sales data has shown that2.5 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide. We reviewedÂNioh, awarding the titlea 9.0 out of 10 saying the game deserves its own spotlight apart fromÂBloodborne. Even better,ÂNioh 2was formally teased last E3 during the PlayStation E3 Press Conference – sowe know that is on the horizon.
NiohÂis available immediately on PC and PS4; meanwhile there is no known release date forÂNioh 2. If you were hoping to see either title on Xbox One, go ahead and send a (friendly) Tweet over to Koei Tecmo (@KoeiTecmoUS) and Team Ninja (@TeamNINJAStudio) letting them know.
