JAPAN GAMING & ENTERTAINMENT 
Nioh 3, the fastest entry in the series to surpass 1 million units in cumulative sales, received its first DLC, Hell Rising, on August 19, 2026, Japan time (August 18 in North America). It is available on PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam).
According to the official site, the story is set in Edo in 1651, during the Keian era. The protagonist Takechiyo, now shogun, encounters an unfamiliar yokai in a dream and is led across time to a future Edo. There, after Takechiyo’s death, the peace has been shattered and the city has been overtaken by the Crucible. With the help of the one-eyed swordsman Yagyu Jubei and the Spanish envoy Rodrigo, Takechiyo confronts an enemy who holds a deep grudge against the shogunate, along with a new plot revolving around Spirit Stones.
Yagyu Jubei is the son of Yagyu Munenori, Takechiyo’s martial arts teacher, making him Takechiyo’s fellow disciple. Rodrigo is based on a real historical figure. DLC director Masaki Fujita explained in a Famitsu interview that Rodrigo is a person whose visit to Japan and meetings with William, the protagonist of the original Nioh, and Tokugawa Ieyasu are documented in historical records. Fujita also said that because the original Nioh was set in a Japan seen through William’s eyes, he has continued to include foreign characters without losing sight of a “view of Japan from the outside world.”
The new area extends north of Edo Castle. According to DLC director Atsushi Takahashi, players can now access the area beyond Hirakawa Gate, where locations such as Kanda and Ueno appear. In Suidobashi, the bridge for which the area is named is featured. Edo’s water supply network has also been incorporated into the open field. Takahashi said that while conducting research during development, the team found that places connected to this DLC’s characters exist near Ichigaya, Team NINJA’s home base.
The two new weapons are the Hoko & Shield and the Ninja Hoko & Shield. Takahashi explains that the Hoko & Shield is a sturdy, power-focused weapon, while the Ninja Hoko & Shield is more mobile, letting players float in the air and throw the shield. He said that one reason the Hoko & Shield has a Western-style design is the presence of a foreign alchemist character. The collectible Hundred Demon Realms Picture Scrolls are also now procedurally generated, resulting in hundreds of millions of possible patterns instead of around 100 fixed variations. Online multiplayer is also supported.
A new difficulty, Enlightened One’s Journey, unlocks after clearing Shogun’s Journey. A free demo with save data carryover is also available. The DLC is split into two parts, and Hell Rising is the first. The second part is Bloody Insurrection, and producer Kohei Shibata explains that it is themed around the Amakusa Rebellion, which he describes as the largest uprising of the Edo period.