Where Winds Meet

Where Winds Meet ^[a] is a wuxia action-adventure role-playing video game developed by Everstone Studio and published by NetEase Games. The player assumes the role of a wandering adventurer during the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Where Winds Meet was released worldwide for PlayStation 5 and Windows on November 14, 2025, and for Android and iOS on December 12, 2025.

Where Winds Meet is a wuxia action-adventure role-playing game.^[1] It can be experienced in single-player and multiplayer modes.^[2][3][4][5] Players assume the role of a character who is a wandering adventurer, known as a youxia in the wuxia tradition, and can also pursue a large variety of professions.^[6] The player character's appearance, such as physical attributes and clothing, is customizable.^[7]

The wanderer can wield multiple weapon types, each of which is associated with different styles of martial arts.^[8] For example, a sword can be used with either the Nameless Sword or Strategic Sword martial arts styles.^[9] As of the game's launch, the available weapon types are swords, dual blades, spears, rope darts, fans, umbrellas, and mo blades.^[10] Two weapons can be equipped at a time.^[8][11] Depending on the current build, the weapons can deal damage, provide control, and give healing.^[12][13] In addition, the wanderer can perform mystic arts, which are skills that have effects inside and outside of combat.^[14][15] They serve offensive, movement, or general purposes.^[15] For example, Tai Chi can be used to throw a target, gather leaves in certain areas, or create ripples in water that causes fish to leap.^[15]

The game takes place in an expansive open world.^[1][8] The world is divided into multiple regions, such as Qinghe and Kaifeng.^[16] Quests, which players can undertake, are divided into categories such as main story, lost chapter, encounter, and exploration.^[17] There is also a wide range of other activities, both combative and non-combative, available for players.^[18] Sects, each with its own distinct rules and incentives for its members, can be joined.^[19][20][21] Guilds can be formed by players themselves.^[22]

The game is free-to-play and uses a monetization model that does not involve pay-to-win elements.^[23][24] It has multiple options for guidance, which supports the exploration, and difficulty.^[25]

Where Winds Meet takes place during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.^{[1][8][23][26][27]} Its world is influenced by the wuxia tradition.^[1][8][23] For instance, it introduces the jianghu.^[6]

Where Winds Meet is a game developed by Everstone Studio and published by NetEase Games.^[28][29] The studio is based in Hangzhou, China.^[30] The game utilizes the Messiah Engine.^[31] It is maintained on a long-term basis through periodic content updates.^[32]

Everstone Studio set out to create a game that combines wuxia with an open world.^[32][33] The team aimed to provide a deep immersion in the wuxia genre, a combat system that is different from traditional wuxia titles on the market, and an open world experience rich with emotional peaks.^[32] The exploration in the open world was designed in layers along an emotional gradient and hierarchy: the base layer consists of points of interest, the next layer contains more expansive areas and medium-sized puzzles, and the top layer features content centered on major regional bosses who serve as the emotional climaxes.^[32] Furthermore, the exploration was intertwined with the wuxia immersion, in which the goal is to make players feel like a hero, specifically a xiake, through the interactions with this world.^[32]

For the worldbuilding, the creative process began with proposing a core thematic concept and gradually translating it into concrete player experiences, including gameplay.^[34] Considering the game's roots in wuxia, the development team hoped that the chosen themes resonate with the cultural heritage that Chinese people relate to.^[34] Qinghe, for instance, is a region thematically centered on the disappearance and emergence of the xiake, in which the design revolves around the heroes shrouded in legends from a previous era.^[32] Kaifeng is a region thematically centered on the prosperity of a flourishing age and the decay amid the echoes of turmoil, in which the design shows the juxtaposition between the situation of the poor and wealthy.^[32] The eponymous city in the region was designed based on thorough study of its real-world counterpart.^[33] Hexi is a region thematically centered on poetry, in which the design reflects a sense of romanticism reminiscent to xieyi, a classical expressive art style.^[34]

The sound design was thematically built around the period's culture and nature.^[33] Folk songs and theaterical plays, those passed down through history, were utilized.^[33] The music was crafted in a form that did not merely rely on specific melodies but evokes the sounds of wind or water in a way that aligned with the characters' beliefs and principles.^[33] This approach was intended not simply to recreate history, but to express the wuxia spirit and the hearts of the people living in this world.^[33]

Stephen Tung, an action choreographer, joined the team to help with the action design.^[35][36]

Everstone Studio unveiled Where Winds Meet during Gamescom 2022.^[37][38] In the Chinese market, the game was launched in open beta for PC on December 27, 2024,^[39] and for mobile devices on January 9, 2025.^[40] A trailer published by Sony revealed that the game would be a PlayStation 5 console exclusive for at least six months after its release.^[41]

Where Winds Meet was released worldwide for PC (Windows) and PlayStation 5 on November 14, 2025,^[42] and for mobile devices (Android and iOS) on December 12, 2025.^[43] It features cross-platform play and progression.^[44][30][45]

Where Winds Meet received "mixed or average" reviews on PC and "generally favorable" reviews on PlayStation 5 from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.^[46][47] It was assessed with a "fair" rating by critics, according to review aggregator website OpenCritic.^[48]

In the Chinese market, Where Winds Meet exceeded 15 million players across PC and mobile devices by February 2025, within two months after its PC launch or two weeks after its mobile launch.^[49]

After its worldwide release, Where Winds Meet reached 2 million players within a day,^[50] 9 million players within two weeks,^[51][52][53] and 15 million players within a month.^[54][55][56] During the second week, the game peaked at over 250 thousand concurrent players on Steam.^[55][57][58]