{"id":52356,"date":"2025-09-25T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=52356"},"modified":"2025-09-25T17:20:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T08:20:51","slug":"niohs-developers-stick-to-the-tradition-of-pre-launch-demos-because-they-believe-player-feedback-is-what-has-brought-the-series-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/niohs-developers-stick-to-the-tradition-of-pre-launch-demos-because-they-believe-player-feedback-is-what-has-brought-the-series-so-far\/","title":{"rendered":"Nioh\u2019s developers stick to the tradition of pre-launch demos because they believe player feedback helped shape the series into what it is today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Simultaneously with its initial announcement back in June this year, Team Ninja\u2019s Nioh 3<\/strong> got a two-week open alpha demo, leaving no time for players to agonize over what the new open-field map and dual playstyles would look like. This was followed up by a report<\/a> on all the adjustments and improvements that would be made based on collected player feedback, such as more customizable controls and the return of weapon-swapping. In an interview with Denfaminicogamer<\/a>, Nioh 3\u2019s producers Fumihiko Yasuda and Kohei Shibata recently talked about why the series has stuck with a tradition of putting out demos before launch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the Nioh series, we\u2019ve always released demos so that we could incorporate player feedback, but the reaction was particularly strong in the recent alpha,\u201d Yasuda comments. He explains that his team initially opted for this approach for 2017\u2019s Nioh as it was their first time developing a punishing, die-and-retry game (\u201cshinig\u0113\u201d in Japanese) of its kind. \u201cSince it\u2019s not the kind of game that lives or dies on things like atmosphere or graphics, it was very important for us to hear opinions based on hands-on experience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nioh<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to Yasuda, there are multiple sides as to why demos are valuable to Team Ninja. \u201cPlayer feedback sometimes reinforces our confidence in what\u2019s good in the game, and other times it makes us rethink things entirely. I also believe this process has helped fuel the passion of the playerbase and grow a community around the Nioh series.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Yasuda jokes that this is his \u201cpublic\u201d answer to the question, while the \u201chidden\u201d one is that sometimes, the developers simply lack confidence. \u201cOf course, we do have confidence and conviction in what we\u2019re making as creators. But the longer you work on something, the more subjective you become.\u201d Interestingly, he notes that as the development cycle stretches on, the development team sometimes becomes less responsive to issues the producer points out. This is where having player feedback plays an important role. \u201cWhen you say, \u2018This is what the players are saying,\u2019 the staff\u2019s reaction is completely different,” he explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nioh<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Nioh series has been refined through multiple demo releases, and as a team, we feel it was the feedback from our players that allowed us to bring it so far.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nioh 3<\/a> is scheduled to release on February 6 for PC (Steam) and PS5. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nioh 3 producers Fumihiko Yasuda and Kohei Shibata talk about Team Ninja’s approach to developing the series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":52358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-52356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nNioh\u2019s developers stick to the tradition of pre-launch demos because they believe player feedback helped shape the series into what it is today - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nioh 3 producers Fumihiko Yasuda and Kohei Shibata talk about Team Ninja's approach to developing the series.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/niohs-developers-stick-to-the-tradition-of-pre-launch-demos-because-they-believe-player-feedback-is-what-has-brought-the-series-so-far\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nioh\u2019s developers stick to the tradition of pre-launch demos because they believe player feedback helped shape the series into what it is today - 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