Netmarble's upcoming adventure-crafting game, Bloomwalker, has been confirmed to exist within the same universe as Level-5's Ni no Kuni RPG franchise. This revelation came during Tokyo Game Show 2026, following the game's initial reveal at Gamescom in 2025.
Bloomwalker's visual design has drawn significant comparisons to the works of Studio Ghibli, particularly the film Howl's Moving Castle, evident in elements like a living, moving house and a sentient fire companion. Other inspirations appear to include My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke. While the art style strongly evokes the Ni no Kuni games, this connection is now officially solidified.
A new trailer shown at TGS 2026 included copyright information for both Ni no Kuni and Level-5, confirming the crossover. This marks the first official link between Bloomwalker and the Ni no Kuni series since the last mainline installment, Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, released in 2018. The exact nature of Bloomwalker's relationship to the franchise and Level-5's involvement in its development remain unclear.
Given that Netmarble independently developed the mobile spin-off Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds in 2021 without Level-5's direct input, it's possible that Level-5 has simply licensed the IP to Netmarble for Bloomwalker. Studio Ghibli has not been involved with the series since the original Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch in 2011.
This news may come as a welcome development for fans of the Ni no Kuni series, especially considering the recent backlash against Level-5 concerning a presentation that heavily featured generative AI. Netmarble also faces scrutiny; its previous Ni no Kuni game, Cross Worlds, initially incorporated blockchain technology that was only removed this year.