Hanako: Honor & Blade

+Mpact Games, LLC.

Released: Sep 14, 2021
Platforms: Windows
Last updated: 03 Sep 2026, 16:08 GMT

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Updates & announcements

20 posts

29 Aug 2026Developer post
Wishlist our New Game: Twin Hooks
I spent 14 years making this game and never thought I'd pursue a studio again after we sunset only 4 months after ship. Circumstances changed and I have been working on this with a small team (some ex-Hanako devs) for the last year. We're growing our community to fundraise for ou
21 Dec 2021Developer post
Public Playtest Event: Samurai Royale WIP Mode - Wednesday Dec 22nd @ 10pm EST
Samurai Royale Test - Details Tonight we will begin testing gameplay changes, new features and more. We will be testing on a BETA BRANCH during these events, which require some action in Steam. You can opt-in to our testing branch following the steps below: Step 1) Right click on
10 Dec 2021Developer post
WE ARE NOW FREE-TO-PLAY + F2P PATCH NOTES
WE ARE NOW FREE TO PLAY We are now officially a F2P title. We look forward to this next chapter of our long decade+ journey. We hope this allows more gamers like you to see what we've put into our game, for free and have an easier decision to make to stick around, join our commun
08 Dec 2021Developer post
Final F2P Patch Test Night - Wednesday December 8th @ 10pm EST
F2P Patch Testing - Details This is our last test before the F2P patch ships on Friday. We will be testing all of our current features, bug fixes, etc. to make sure the build is stable for release. We will be testing on a BETA BRANCH during these events, which require some action
03 Dec 2021Developer post
Hanako: Honor & Blade to go Free-to-Play
We are going Free-to-Play We have decided as a dev team that is in our best interest, as a small independent game, to go Free-to-play as soon as possible to give our multiplayer title the best chance at reaching more players. Why F2P? We worked on Hanako, with everything we have,
We are going Free-to-Play
We have decided as a dev team that is in our best interest, as a small independent game, to go Free-to-play as soon as possible to give our multiplayer title the best chance at reaching more players.
Why F2P?
We worked on Hanako, with everything we have, during our free time for 14 years and our launch, quite frankly has been a tremendous disappointment because we think we made a near-AAA quality multiplayer game, but never had the exposure, support or budget (Hanako was made with $0) to adequately get eyes on it. So we want to remove the barrier to entry and let as many people as could put their eyes on it, to play and hopefully get enough influx of new players to fill up servers, even scale them up and turn our focus to providing more content, new classes, maps, modes, etc.
Despite being a team of 4 people, doing this after work, we have built our item store up to about 75 items (when we ship the F2P patch) and believe there's enough there to make this shift.
What if I bought the game already?
We will be offering in-game items in our Discord by showing us proof-of-purchase (steam key or receipt email/screenshot showing your Steam ID) via a DLC key or some other means. We're still working out the specifics on this and are happy to offer something like that, especially as a thank you for supporting us and continuing to want to play and have access to the game.
Free-to-Play Patch Preview
We'll be releasing our first major patch with this change on December 10th. This will feature over 24 new items in our item store, addressing of the top feedback items from launch feedback gathering, refund notes, forum posts, testing, etc. and other fixes we've run into.

Improved hit impact/feedback: New "ripout" system for melee classes, to have successful hits "stick" and "Rip out" of enemies for more visceral feel. Also our new ability/combo hit system that includes combo counter numbers, additional particle FX and presentation.
Two new full item sets: Unicorn set & Kintsukuroi set added for purchase in the item store. These bundles include: Skins for all classes & weapons, helmet, hat, mask & hair (Unicorn set only for Hair). Items can be individually purchased as well.
Improvements to hit detection/consistency of hits.
Fixes for various server crashes and issues.
Localization updates, fixes to variety of missing text/strings in non-English langauges.
[What happens after F2P Patch?
We will be keeping a close eye on how player numbers change and our development roadmap and we will become public testing of our Samurai Royale (battle royale) mode and iterating towards a new BR map/mode patch release and adding more item sets. Should the game earn a self-sustaining playerbase we will move into retention mechanics like daily/weekly/monthly challenges, achievement-based item unlocks (some exist in-game already) and expanding giving you guys more reasons to keep coming back.
We'd like to thank all of you for your support, especially those that participated in Early Access testing. We know it's been a slow burn, and we see everyone's reviews/comments/feedback about the player base, we hate it as much as you do and this is why we're doing what we're doing.
-Hanako Dev Team
Original post
30 Nov 2021Developer post
Public Playtest Event: Defeat the Devs - Wednesday Dec 1st @ 10pm EST
Defeat the Devs - Details Tonight we will begin testing gameplay changes, new features and more. We will be testing on a BETA BRANCH during these events, which require some action in Steam. You can opt-in to our testing branch following the steps below: Step 1) Right click on Han
24 Nov 2021Developer post
We Need Your Nomination: Labor of Love
We would love your nomination for Labor of Love. Hanako: Honor & Blade started as a tribute to my late mother, who passed away from cancer. The game's backstory of samurai lore serves as a metaphor for al lost loved ones battle against disease. Over the course of our journey,
16 Nov 2021Developer post
Public Playtest Event: Defeat the Devs - Wednesday Nov 17th @ 10pm EST
Defeat the Devs - Details Tonight we will begin testing gameplay changes, new features and more. We will be testing on a BETA BRANCH during these events, which require some action in Steam. You can opt-in to our testing branch following the steps below: Step 1) Right click on Han
11 Nov 2021Developer post
Event Tonight: Defeat the Devs - Wednesday Nov 10th @ 10pm EST
Defeat the Devs - October 13th @ 10pm EST Tonight we will begin testing gameplay changes, new features and more. We will be testing on a BETA BRANCH during these events, which require some action in Steam. You can opt-in to our testing branch following the steps below: Step 1) Ri
13 Oct 2021Developer post
Event Tonight: Defeat the Devs - Wednesday October 13th @ 10pm EST
Defeat the Devs - October 13th @ 10pm EST Tonight we will begin testing gameplay changes, new features and more. We will be testing on a BETA BRANCH during these events, which require some action in Steam. You can opt-in to our testing branch following the steps below: Step 1) Ri
06 Oct 2021Developer post
Event Tonight: Defeat the Devs - Wednesday October 6th @ 10pm EST
Defeat the Devs - October 6th @ 10pm EST Tonight we will begin testing gameplay changes, new features and more. We will be testing on a BETA BRANCH during these events, which require some action in Steam. You can opt-in to our testing branch following the steps below: Step 1) Rig
29 Sep 2021Developer post
Event Tonight: Defeat the Devs - Weds September 29th @ 10pm EST
Defeat the Devs - September 22nd @ 10pm EST We would like to thank everyone for their support and interest in our launch. We are currently compiling feedback lists from reviews, posts, etc. to roadmap what we plan to do next. In the meantime, we will continue our weekly events on
20 Sep 2021Developer post
Hotfix: 1.0.0.050
Bug fix for knockdown animations breaking when you get hit. Bug fix for ninja bots not playing weapon animations during status effects. Added ability to re-bind movement keys on keyboard. Increased AI difficulty game-wide. Servers will patch and restart.
Bug fix for knockdown animations breaking when you get hit.
Bug fix for ninja bots not playing weapon animations during status effects.
Added ability to re-bind movement keys on keyboard.
Increased AI difficulty game-wide.
Servers will patch and restart.
Original post
20 Sep 2021Developer post
First Post-Launch Event: Defeat the Devs - Weds September 22nd @ 10pm EST
Defeat the Devs - September 22nd @ 10pm EST We would like to thank everyone for their support and interest in our launch. We are currently compiling feedback lists from reviews, posts, etc. to roadmap what we plan to do next. In the meantime, we will continue our weekly events on
14 Sep 2021Developer post
Digital Release Party: September 14th @ 9PM EST - 12:30AM EST
Virtual Release Party: September 14th from 9pm EST to our MIDNIGHT Release September 15th. After starting Hanako: Honor & Blade as a college project all the way back in 2008, and releasing to Early Access in October of 2017. We are proud to finally announce we will be releasi
Virtual Release Party: September 14th from 9pm EST to our MIDNIGHT Release September 15th.
After starting Hanako: Honor & Blade as a college project all the way back in 2008, and releasing to Early Access in October of 2017. We are proud to finally announce we will be releasing fully on Steam, graduating from Early Access at September 15th at Midnight EST.
Our launch trailer will promptly launch just before midnight and will be premiered on stream live!
Join us live on stream on any of the following platforms:

Twitch: http://twitch.tv/hanakogame
Facebook Live: http://facebook.com/playhanako
Steam: http://steam.playhanako.com
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HanakoSouloftheSamuraiGame
Original post
08 Sep 2021Developer post
TONIGHT Weekly Event 2nd-to-last playtest before launch!!!
Event Details We'll be starting at 10pm EST / 2a UTC on the US-Mid Official Server and voice chat on See the testing initiatives below for what we'll be testing tonight. Testing Initiatives/Test Patch Notes - Bug fixes to verify -- MAJOR Fix - Ninja grappling causing input lock/m
01 Sep 2021Developer post
TONIGHT Weekly Event: Defeat the Devs Playtest September 1st @ 10PM EST Details
Event Details We'll be starting at 10pm EST / 2a UTC on the US-Mid Official Server and voice chat on See the testing initiatives below for what we'll be testing tonight. Testing Initiatives/Test Patch Notes - Bug fixes to verify -- Overhaul of Duel queue system. -- Fixes for bad
25 Aug 2021Developer post
TONIGHT Weekly Event: Defeat the Devs Playtest August 25th @ 10PM EST Details
Event Details We'll be starting at 10pm EST / 2a UTC on the US-Mid Official Server and voice chat on See the testing initiatives below for what we'll be testing tonight. We'll be recording b-roll for GIF and trailer creation so we'll need players to help coordinate! Testing Initi
18 Aug 2021Developer post
TONIGHT Weekly Event: Defeat the Devs Playtest August 18th @ 10PM EST Details
Event Details We'll be starting at 10pm EST / 2a UTC on the US-Mid Official Server and voice chat on See the testing initiatives below for what we'll be testing tonight. We'll be recording b-roll for GIF and trailer creation so we'll need players to help coordinate! Testing Initi
11 Aug 2021Developer post
TONIGHT Weekly Event: Defeat the Devs Playtest August 4th @ 10PM EST Details
Event Details We'll be starting at 10pm EST / 2a UTC on the US-Mid Official Server and voice chat on See the testing initiatives below for what we'll be testing tonight. We'll be recording b-roll for GIF and trailer creation so we'll need players to help coordinate! Testing Initi

Updates & announcements

Samurai Royale Test - Details

Testing Agenda for Tonight

WE ARE NOW FREE TO PLAY

Patch Notes: F2P Patch - Version 1.2

New Content

New Features

Bug Fixes

What's Next

F2P Patch Testing - Details

Testing Agenda for Tonight

We are going Free-to-Play

Why F2P?

What if I bought the game already?

Free-to-Play Patch Preview

[What happens after F2P Patch?

Defeat the Devs - Details

Testing Agenda for Tonight

Defeat the Devs - Details

Testing Agenda for Tonight

Defeat the Devs - October 13th @ 10pm EST

Testing Agenda for Tonight

Defeat the Devs - October 13th @ 10pm EST

Testing Agenda for Tonight

Defeat the Devs - October 6th @ 10pm EST

Testing Agenda for Tonight

Defeat the Devs - September 22nd @ 10pm EST

Defeat the Devs - September 22nd @ 10pm EST

Virtual Release Party: September 14th from 9pm EST to our MIDNIGHT Release September 15th.

Event Details

Testing Initiatives/Test Patch Notes

Event Details

Testing Initiatives/Test Patch Notes

Event Details

Testing Initiatives/Test Patch Notes

Event Details

Testing Initiatives/Test Patch Notes

Event Details

Testing Initiatives/Test Patch Notes