Dynasty Warriors hacks and slashes its way to mobile for the first time

Sharpen up your pocket swords, because it’s time to strike down countless waves of random enemies on the go.

Project Dynasty Warriors is a new free-to-play mobile game that brings the enormous battles and melee combat of the console Dynasty Warriors games to iOS and Android for the first time in “late 2016.” Fast-growing mobile publisher Nexon Korea is producing the app, and it is working with Dynasty Warriors publisher Koei Tecmo and developer XPEC Entertainment. Unlike some other console-to-mobile adaptations, Nexon isn’t using the Dynasty Warriors setting for a clone of Clash of Clans or some other popular mobile app. Instead, the company is aiming to give the $36.9 billion iOS and Android gaming market a smartphone-sized version of the same experience you would get on PlayStation 4.

For Nexon, this adds another big-name release to its roster, which already includes online role-playing game MapleStory 2, developer Cliff Bleszinski’s new LawBreakers shooter, and the mobile strategy game DomiNations.

Project Dynasty Warriors, which is a working title, should look familiar to fans. It takes assets from 2013’s Dynasty Warriors 8 and shapes them into something better suited for the mobile audience. One example of this is a new focus on collecting unique characters and items. Other than that, however, it looks a lot like the franchise that many gamers have enjoyed since the 1997 original on PlayStation.

“Dynasty Warriors is a beloved and fan-favorite franchise that has endured for nearly two decades and gives Nexon Korea another triple-A title for audiences around the world to enjoy,” Nexon Korea chief executive officer Jiwon Park said in a canned statement. “Fully enhanced for mobile while retaining the feel of the console versions, Project Dynasty Warriors will immerse hardcore gamers and deliver everything that made the Dynasty Warriors series a beloved global masterpiece.”