Naraka: Bladepoint (simplified Chinese: 永劫无间; traditional Chinese: 永劫無間; pinyin: yǒngjiéwújiàn; Jyutping: wing5 gip3 mou4 gaan3) is a free-to-play wuxia action battle royale game created by 24 Entertainment and published by NetEase Games Montreal. In this game, up to 60 players compete against each other to be the last one remaining. The game includes martial arts-style close combat and uses a rock-paper-scissors system for fighting. Players can choose from many melee and ranged weapons, as well as a grappling hook that helps with fighting and moving around. Each character has special abilities and skills, allowing players to customize their gameplay. The game was released for Windows in August 2021 and later released for Xbox Series X/S on June 23, 2022. An Xbox One version followed on December 22, 2022. A PlayStation 5 version was released on July 13, 2023, and the game became free-to-play on that date. Since its launch in August 2021, Naraka: Bladepoint has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide.

Gameplay

Naraka: Bladepoint takes place on "Morus Isle," "Holoroth," "Perdoria," and "The Maelstrom," where heroes gather for battles. Players can join solo, duo, or trio games and choose from more than 27 different characters. Each character has two special abilities (F skill and V ultimate).

In solo mode, players play alone. In duo mode, players team up with one partner. In trio mode, players start with two teammates on the same team. After enough players join (up to 60 in one round), players select characters with different abilities, called Heroes. After choosing Heroes, players pick a starting location on the map. Teammates can choose to follow or start elsewhere. Once on the map, players search for weapons, grappling tools, health, or armor to prepare for battle. At the same time, players must watch for enemy groups to avoid being surprised.

As players fight, the safe area on the map shrinks to a random spot. Players have time to prepare for the spread of shadow corruption. Each round includes multiple events, such as defeating a specific enemy, praying at a statue, or surviving while being marked visible to others in the game.

If a player is knocked down, they can get back up if teammates help quickly. If not, they will die after being cairns. However, before the first spread of shadow corruption, players can return to the map using soul altars after dying. If playing in duo or trio modes, players may also have a chance to bring back fallen teammates through a system called the rift dealer.

At the end of each round, the team with the highest score wins the game.

Naraka: Bladepoint currently has 26 playable characters. The newest character, Zenda Wu, was added on February 4, 2026, as part of Season 19.

Yoto Hime comes from another game by NetEase Games, Onmyoji Arena. Ziping Yin comes from another game by NetEase Games, Ghost Story. Kylin Zhang comes from Xu Lei's novel series, Daomu Biji. Xunhuan Li comes from Gu Long's novel series, Xiaoli Feidao.

Development

Naraka: Bladepoint is a battle royale game that took ideas from Devil May Cry and Sekiro. The game's developer also added features from a fighting game called Meteor Butterfly Sword [zh]/Meteor Blade, which the developer had worked on before. Thunder Fire UX helped with the game's user experience design and research. Naraka: Bladepoint, along with other games, was officially announced during the Game Awards 2019 ceremony on December 12, 2019. From November 3 to 9, 2020, the game tested its servers in North America to check gameplay and performance. Later, it was announced that Naraka: Bladepoint was being developed for consoles, and the game was shown running on a PlayStation 5. The mobile version of the game offers a combat experience focused on close combat for players worldwide and was released in 2022.

Release

Naraka: Bladepoint was released worldwide on August 11, 2021, with more than 10 language versions available. The game was released for Xbox Series X/S on June 23, 2022, and was free for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. In September 2021, ThunderFire Universe X Studio was officially created, focusing more on overseas markets and console development. The first task was to develop the console version of the game for NetEase Thunderfire Business Division and 24 Entertainment. An Xbox One version of Naraka: Bladepoint was released on December 22, 2022, and was made by ThunderFire Universe X Studio. A special event with the Nier series, including Nier: Automata, was announced alongside the release. Xbox One support for the game ended on August 28, 2024, because of problems with older hardware. The PlayStation 5 version was released on July 13, 2023, and the game became free to play on all platforms.

The first official Naraka: Bladepoint tournament in Southeast Asia, called the Celestra Cup, began on September 9, 2021, and ended on December 12, with the first winner of the SEA tournament being crowned. In China, the Naraka Bladepoint League (NBPL) is a major competition with multiple seasons each year and an annual prize pool of $750,000. It also gives spots in the J-Cup tournament.

The J-Cup is the highest-level tournament for Naraka: Bladepoint, known as the World Championship. It includes teams from Europe, North America, Asia, Southeast Asia, and China. The prize pool for the J-Cup is $1,500,000. To qualify for the J-Cup, regions hold competitions with different prize amounts. Here is how each region qualifies:

• EU: Players from Europe are chosen based on performance in scrim matches or rankings in the Shadowjade Cup. EU sends 2 solo players and 2 trios to the J-Cup.
• AS: Players from Asia (Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) are selected through the J Cup Asia Preliminaries, Asian Challenge, and practice scrims. AS sends 1 solo player and 1 trio to the J-Cup.
• NA: Players from North and South America are chosen from Console Scrims, Practice Scrims, and the Morus Cup. NA sends 3 solo players and 2 trios to the J-Cup.
• SEA: Players from Southeast Asia are selected through the J Cup SEA Preliminaries, Asian Challenge, and SEA Practice Scrims. SEA sends 4 solo players and 3 trios to the J-Cup.
• CN: In China, 16 teams compete for NBPL points. The top 3 teams qualify directly for the J-Cup, while others enter the CN preliminaries (except the team with the fewest points, which is eliminated). Over two days, 12 matches determine which 6 teams qualify for the 2024 J-Cup, providing 9 solo and trio spots. In total, the J-Cup has 18 spots for solo and trio players.

Reception

Naraka: Bladepoint received "mixed or average" reviews from Metacritic, a website that collects game reviews. In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 32 out of 40, with each critic giving it an 8 out of 10. The game was nominated for Best Multiplayer Game of 2021 by the Golden Joystick Awards on October 19, 2021, which is one of the oldest video game awards in the world.

During its April Steam test, the game had more than 120,000 players online at the same time. By November 9, 2021, the game had sold more than 6 million copies worldwide. This means the game generated over $250 million in revenue from selling game copies and in-game items.