Tencent Games has announced Code: To Jin Yong, an open-world martial arts game set in ancient China.
Code: To Jin Yong is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 by Lightspeed Studios (PUBG Mobile and Apex Legends Mobile), the first AAA game from the studio. It will be based on the novels of legendary Chinese writer Jin Yong.
A two-minute trailer was released during Tencent's 2022 game conference (below) which shows off a fast-paced and frantic sword fight between two characters.
The combat will also feature magic of some sort, with what appears to be the protagonist wielding wind and his opponent (literally) throwing hands.
Tencent promised that Code: To Jin Yong will be a tribute to the late author, bringing to life his wuxia (martial art fiction set in ancient China) novels that are incredibly popular and have already spawned a myriad of film, TV, and game adaptations.
This will be the first modern game set in Jin Yong's universe, however, and seemingly the first to be targeted at an English-speaking audience. No indication of a release window was given by Tencent, though the trailer makes clear that this footage isn't final, and the game's platforms are also currently unclear.
The Shenzhen, China-based publisher has been pushing further and further into the games industry in recent years, acquiring developers including Riot Games and Turtle Rock Studios.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.