Onimusha Returns September 25 After 20 Years in the Dark

Twenty years. That's how long it's been since Capcom shipped a new Onimusha game. Dawn of Dreams came out in 2006, back when the PS2 was still the dominant console on the planet and the Xbox 360 was barely four months old. During Monday's PlayStation State of Play, Capcom confirmed that Onimusha: Way of the Sword finally has a release date: September 25, 2026, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

A demo also went live yesterday across all platforms, letting players explore the historic Kiyomizu-dera Temple and fight Musashi's rival, Sasaki Ganryu. Finishing the demo unlocks a "Kubi Akari" charm that carries over to the full game. Capcom did note that the demo's performance "does not fully reflect the final product," with an official PC benchmark tool planned for a later date.

The new trailer leans harder into narrative than previous showings. It follows protagonist Miyamoto Musashi storming a castle atop Mount Oe, where a massive Genma claiming to be Shuten Doji, the legendary oni, has set up shop. The boss wipes the floor with Musashi before the trailer's closing seconds reveal what looks like a Devil Trigger-style Oni Warrior transformation. We don't see it in gameplay, which is a deliberate tease, but it's the kind of reveal that immediately reframes what the combat ceiling might look like.

I've been waiting for this one since the original announcement at The Game Awards 2024, and I'm excited. Onimusha occupied a weird space in Capcom's lineup back in the PS2 era: not quite as prestigious as Devil May Cry or Resident Evil, but beloved by the people who played it. The series blending samurai action with supernatural horror always felt like it deserved a bigger audience, and Capcom let it sit dormant for two full decades is baffling given how well the formula would translate to modern hardware. VGC's hands-on preview described it as "Devil May Cry meets Resident Evil, with a sprinkling of Miyazaki magic," while Eurogamer's preview compared it favourably to Nioh and Nioh 2. If either of those comparisons holds up, September is going to be stacked.

Capcom's crowded calendar

September 25 puts Way of the Sword firmly in the growing cluster of games that have chosen to launch well before GTA 6's arrival. Control Resonant and Silent Hill Townfall both landed on dates within a day of each other in the same window. Every major publisher has clearly drawn the same conclusion: get your game out and give it breathing room, or get buried. Capcom is in a particularly strong position here. Both Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata have already been commercial successes this year, so Way of the Sword doesn't need to carry the company's financials. It just needs to deliver on the promise of a series that fans have been asking about for over a decade.

Pre-orders are live now in three tiers. The Standard Edition runs $69.99 / £64.99, the Deluxe Edition is $79.99 / £74.99 and adds cosmetic items and charms, and the Premium Deluxe Edition at $89.99 / £84.99 piles on additional outfits for Musashi and his allies plus an in-game digital soundtrack. Pre-ordering any edition gets you a "Sealed Curse" sword skin and "Lion Dog" charm. The cosmetic-heavy Deluxe tiers aren't unusual for Capcom at this point, but I'd rather see that stuff sold separately post-launch than gated behind a more expensive SKU at purchase. At least none of it appears to affect gameplay.

The demo being available right now, across every platform, is the smartest move Capcom could have made. After 20 years away, there's an entire generation of players who have never touched an Onimusha game. Letting them try it for free before asking for $70 is how you rebuild a dormant franchise. More studios should be doing this.