Bandai Namco teases new RPG reveal — what could it be?

Bandai Namco is teasing the reveal of a new role-playing game on Thursday, and if you were hoping for something unannounced from Dark Souls developer FromSoftware or the next entry in the Tales franchise, you may be out of luck. Bandai Namco’s “new RPG reveal” is still something of a mystery, but it’s possible to at least rule out a few possibilities reliably.

Beyond the game’s genre and a very brief, unhelpful snippet of gameplay, Bandai Namco’s only other tease is the tagline “A serenity soon to be disturbed” and a stylized “L” in the word “reveal.” The publisher behind Tekken, Dragon Ball, and Ace Combat games promises “more to come” on Thursday, March 5, at 3 p.m. PST / 6 p.m. EST.

For the time being, RPG fans seem mostly stumped, guessing that Bandai Namco’s new RPG could be an entry in either the Tales or Sword Art Online franchises. The latter seems likely given the visuals in the teaser, and how much time has passed since the most recent game, Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream. Others are guessing that Bandai Namco may finally be ready to make good on its promise to expand the Scarlet Nexus brand. The original Scarlet Nexus was released in 2021 to healthy sales, and was followed by an anime adaptation produced by studio Sunrise.

Based on the available footage released thus far, it’s not a new FromSoft game — that studio is working on Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition and The Duskbloods — and it seems unlikely to be a new Code Vein game. Code Vein 2 was just released in January, followed by Tales of Berseria Remastered in February, making a follow-up to pretty unlikely. Another unlikely possibility is the new action-RPG from CyberConnect2, a new .hack game called .hack//ZERO. While Bandai Namco owns the .hack copyright, .hack//ZERO will be self-published by CyberConnect2.

One of the more entertaining guesses for Bandai Namco’s new RPG is a modern take on the Tower of Druaga — largely based on the large white tower seen briefly in the publisher’s teaser. Tower of Druaga, part of the Babylonian Castle Saga, was originally released in 1984 in arcades and was envisioned as a “fantasy Pac-Man” game that drew influence from Wizardry and Dungeons & Dragons. We should be so lucky to get a new Druaga RPG in 2026!

The mystery of Bandai Namco’s new RPG reveal shall be solved by Thursday, so get your predictions in now.