Open-world action RPG Rise Of The Ronin is not getting released in South Korea. It’s developed by Team Ninja, the Japanese studio best known for games like Nioh, Nioh 2, and Stranger Of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin.

As reported on the Korean community site Ruliweb, Sony Interactive Entertainment Korea has released a statement confirming that Rise Of The Ronin won’t be released in South Korea both physically or digitally.

However, they did not give an official reason why, though it’s clear what the reason was. Many in South Korea have been offended by comments made by Rise Of The Ronin game director Fumuhiko Yasuda in a behind-the-scenes video posted on YouTube.

In the video, Yasuda is shown visiting the city Hagi and the Shoka Sonjuku School, founded by the 19th-century scholar Sh?in Yoshida. Yoshida was an influential scholar who taught many of the leading figures of the Meiji Restoration, which restored imperial rule in Japan.

In the video, he described Yoshida, saying:

“Although it was a different world in a different time, I believe he could be compared to Socrates. I wanted to depict his teachings and his life from the moment I started working on Rise of the Ronin,” he continued. “He wasn’t just a philosopher. He insisted on the importance of taking action.”

Yoshida’s students later became key figures in the politics of Japan during the Meiji period, which is when Japan increased its military might and famously won the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War.

Yoshida is also regarded as one of the driving forces behind Seikanron, which is known in South Korea as Jeonghanrok. Seikanron was a debate within the Japanese Meiji government in 1873 on whether to conquer Korea. The plans to invade Korea ultimately did not happen at that time, but in the next century, Japan did eventually invade and occupy Korea during World War 2 from 1910 to 1945.

Due to all that, Yoshida is seen as a controversial historical figure in South Korea.

Both Yoshida and his student, Kogoro Katsura, will be featured in Rise Of The Ronin’s story.

Rise Of The Ronin launches for PS5 on 22 March 2024.