Quick answers to common questions about Sword Sage: Awakening. As a pre-launch title, some answers are necessarily incomplete and will be updated as more is confirmed.
Sword Sage: Awakening has not released yet. It is listed as "Coming soon" with no confirmed date, so every detail below reflects pre-launch material and is subject to change before launch.
What kind of game is Sword Sage: Awakening?
It is an action RPG (categorized as Action, Adventure, and RPG) rooted in Chinese myth and folklore, with a setting that blends mythology and science fiction. It is single-player.
Who do you play as?
You play as Pei Sanniang, a novice disciple of the Yuangong Sect who serves as a Yaoguai Vanquisher. She hunts the Yaoguai that plague Guannandao.
What is the story about?
A thousand years ago, the drunken Supreme White Gibbon Sage leaked the forbidden celestial books, unleashing calamities and monsters. Pei Sanniang inherits the burden of that event and travels across the land to confront its consequences. See story for the full setup.
How does combat work?
Combat blends fluid swordsmanship with heavy leg attacks, celestial artifacts, and Taoist spells. Its signature mechanic, Evade Cyan, Strike Red, fuses evasion and counterattack into one motion and replaces a traditional dodge roll. See the combat system page for details.
What does "Evade Cyan, Strike Red" mean?
It is the protagonist's secret technique. The "evade" half is a flexible, non-blocking avoidance of an enemy's attack, and the "strike" half is an immediate counterattack into the opening that avoidance creates. The two are performed as a single action. See Evade Cyan, Strike Red.
What are Yaoguai?
Yaoguai are the supernatural creatures that serve as the game's enemies, warped by the power of the leaked celestial books. See Yaoguai.
How long is the game?
Pre-launch interviews describe a target campaign of roughly 15 to 20 hours. As an early estimate, the final length could change before release.
How many bosses are there?
The developers have said they are aiming for at least 20 types of bosses. None have been named yet.
Where does the game take place?
In Guannandao, an ancient world scarred by the catastrophe of the leaked books, whose people forged "mechanical wonders" to survive. The region is also romanized as Jiannandao in some materials.
What platforms is it on?
PC (Windows), via Steam and the Epic Games Store. No Mac, Linux, or console version is confirmed in the verified store data, and no official source has named one. See platforms and release.
The game has official store pages on both Steam and the Epic Games Store, each listing it as "Coming soon" and open to wishlist.
When does it release? Is it free?
There is no confirmed release date; the game is listed as "Coming soon." It is a paid title, not free to play.
A 2027 window circulates ahead of any announcement, but it is an estimate rather than an official date, so no release year is confirmed.
What languages are supported?
English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese are all supported for interface and subtitles. Full voice audio is listed only for Chinese. English is a text and subtitle language, not a voiced one. See platforms and release.
Who is making it?
The game is developed by Sword Panda Limited and published by 4Divinity. Sword Panda is a Chengdu studio established in November 2022, staffed largely by former Ubisoft Shanghai and Chengdu developers, and this is its debut title. 4Divinity is the publishing arm of GCL Global Holdings. The named core team is listed on development and public showings.
What is the game’s original title?
The game was created in Chinese as 《猿公剑》 (Yuangong Jian), meaning "Yuangong Sword." It was first announced with the subtitle 《白猿觉醒》 ("White Ape Awakening"), which the developers later dropped, so the current Chinese title is 《猿公剑》 on its own. Its English release is titled Sword Sage: Awakening. The white ape of the retired subtitle is the Supreme White Gibbon Sage, and 猿公 (Yuangong) is the same term used in the name of the Yuangong Sect.
Has gameplay been shown yet? Can I play it?
Yes to the first, not yet to the second. The developers first showed gameplay publicly in 2024, and playable builds have since been put in front of the public at gamescom 2025 and, during the summer of 2026, at BilibiliWorld 2026 and ChinaJoy 2026. Those were show-floor demos rather than a public download, and no demo has been released for players to run at home. The most recent trailer is a gameplay trailer that premiered on 26 August 2026 during the Future Games Show, the showcase staged in Cologne alongside gamescom; the story trailer from mid-2026 came before it. A release date is still not confirmed. See development and public showings.
Is it hard? Are there difficulty options?
The builds shown so far carry one difficulty setting and no mode select. What they offer instead is a pair of talismans, handed over after a player has died three times in the story. One lets the counter fire without a correct directional input; the other performs the evade and the counter automatically from the guard button. They can be swapped freely and switched off again, so the original difficulty is always available. The developers have said the aim is for the game to stay demanding while remaining finishable by anyone.
Can I block, or only evade?
Both, with a price on the first. Blocking with the sword works against ordinary attacks but spends weapon durability, and attacking spends it too; a blade that runs the gauge down snaps, and it is reforged in the furnace-like case the protagonist carries on her back while a second weapon covers the gap. It does not work at all against the attacks the game marks unblockable, which have to be answered with Evade Cyan, Strike Red. There is no dodge roll and no backstep.
What Weapons Are There?
Swords, in three types: the Three Chi Sword (三尺剑), the Horse-Cleaving Sword (斩马剑) and the Twin Swords (双剑). Each type has its own set of techniques to study, and every individual weapon carries a signature skill of its own. The sect makes them with a craft called the Spirit Shaping Craft (聚形术), and a disciple carries two at a time in the forge-case on her back. There are no ranged weapons. See combat system and Progression and Upgrades.
Is there a downloadable demo?
No. The game has been playable at events and in press sessions, but nothing has been released for download, and the studio has not said whether it intends to publish one. See development and public showings for the list of occasions the game has been playable in public.
What engine does it use?
The game is built in Unreal Engine 5.
Is there a boss you can fight at the demos?
Yes. The studio's show-floor events have run a timed challenge against a boss named 猿公 (Yuangong), the figure the Yuangong Sect is named for. At ChinaJoy 2026 players had fifteen minutes to defeat him. How that encounter fits into the finished campaign has not been explained.
What Is Not Yet Confirmed?
The release date, supporting characters, the antagonist, named enemies and bosses, specific locations within Guannandao, full weapon and skill lists, and detailed system requirements are all still unconfirmed. This wiki adds such details only once the game or an official source confirms them.