Fans of the (somewhat) cult hit Expeditions series will be excited to learn that the newest entry in the alternate-history RPG will explore feudal Japan.
While the official announcement took place during IGN Live, CGM got to sit in on a sneak peek at Expeditions: Samurai with the series’ creator and Creative Director at Campfire Cabal, Jonas Wæver. During the presentation, Wæver spoke about the new setting, some of the new features, and what went into the design of their newest entry in the series.
Apparently, one of the important things they did for Expeditions: Samurai was to “listen to the fans,” who had been requesting Japan as a setting for many years. “We want to reflect the historical realities of things even as we spin off our own fictionalized tales with our own characters, and that’s what kind of sets us apart,” Wæver said, adding, “You get to explore the wonders of feudal Japan in the unique format of our Expedition series which has a little bit of that exploration, the combat and all of the choice and consequence.”
Wæver explained that every Expeditions game begins by choosing a “person from history who travelled far and met a very different culture and situation than what they came for.” For this entry, they landed on William Adams—an English navigator who sailed on a Dutch ship to Japan in the year 1600. However, since this is a role-playing game, players will be able to “step into the shoes of William Adams and make totally different decisions as should they so choose.”
Similar to previous entries in the series and other games in the genre, Expeditions: Samurai will have a mix of real-time exploration, turn-based combat and dialogue encounters, but for the first time in the series, stealth will be a major component of the game. According to Wæver, “You can sneak around, split up your party, set up your positions for a really effective surprise attack and then when you make that initial devastating sneak attack to get into combat, everything is set up for your perfect victory.”
Not only that, but another first for the series is the inclusion of an optional full co-op multiplayer campaign. According to Wæver, the idea was to make co-op as seamless as possible and eliminate the downtime that comes from playing RPGs with other people. By using the system of “Simultaneous Combat Resolution,” which was introduced in Expeditions: Rome, both players carry out their actions at the same time, and only give the turn over to the enemy AI when they’ve both ended their turns. During dialogue, both players can converse with a character at the same time, wresting control of the discussion away from each other based on their characters’ skills.
Expeditions: Samurai will see an Early Access launch in August of 2026, consisting of “Act One” of the game. According to Wæver, Act One will have around eight hours of gameplay and be “almost feature complete.” Afterwards, the game will see two major updates—one for gameplay additions and the other for “Act Two,” which will be comprised of an additional 10 hours of quests. The 1.0 launch will contain four main story acts and roughly 60+ hours of gameplay.
The game is planned to launch on PC; however, Wæver also suggested consoles could be an option in the future. Players can wishlist Expeditions: Samurai on Steam.
