Rise of the Ronin will not be released in South Korea, Sony confirms

In recent days, rumors had emerged about the possibility that Rise of the Ronin don't come distributed in South Koreaand the thing was later confirmed officially from Sony, although there are no in-depth explanations on the matter.

The news had initially emerged on the Korean portal Daum, but the language problem could have led to an incorrect translation, and in any case an official communication from Sony was awaited also for Western newspapers.

This has not arrived in public form, but GamesIndustry.biz has received confirmation from Sony PlayStation, apparently: “Rise of the Ronin for PS5 was never announced for release in Korea,” a Sony spokesperson told the site in question. “We can confirm that the game will not be sold and published in South Korea in any form, either physically or digitally.”

The controversy over Yoshida

There is therefore clear confirmation of the unwillingness to distribute Rise of the Ronin in Korea, but the doubt remains as to what the motivation which pushed the local branch of Sony PlayStation to make this drastic decision.

As we reported in recent days, this could also be linked to the comments made by director Fumuhiko Yasuda on the 19th century Japanese philosopher and thinker, Shoin Yoshida. The latter is considered a kind of guide to various leaders of the Meiji restoration, which returned the emperor to the head of Japan.

He is, in fact, a key figure in the construction of the mentality, philosophy and politics underlying imperial Japan, including the push for expansionism in the Pacific. It was Yoshida's belief that Japan's power should be based on aggressive expansionism towards its neighbors, includinginvasion of Korea.

Although this actually happened only decades later, at the beginning of the 20th century, it was still seen as a consequence of Yoshida's theories, a figure who is clearly seen in a profoundly negative way in Korea, also considering the numerous war crimes of which the The Japanese army was guilty on this occasion and during the 35-year occupation.

In a behind-the-scenes video to promote Rise of the Ronin, the director Yasuda had very positive words for the thinker, seen as a key figure for the game: after even comparing him to Socrates, Yasuda reported “I wanted to bring back his teachings and his life since we started developing Rise of the Ronin. He wasn't just a philosopher, he was a person who insisted on the importance of taking action.”