BODY: The Forbidden City is opening its gates โ at least the in-game version. NetEase Games announced today that "Where Winds Meet" (้ขจ็ไผ), its sprawling wuxia open-world RPG, will roll out its second major expansion, "Dawn at the Palace Gates" (ๅฎฎ้ใฎๆใผใใ), on May 28.
The headline addition is a brand-new Imperial Palace region spanning more than one million square meters of explorable space. Players will be able to wander the courtyards, halls, and hidden corners of a meticulously reconstructed Five Dynasties-era palace complex โ a setting that has long been teased in the game's lore but never fully accessible.
Beyond sightseeing, the patch layers in fresh combat content. World bosses ("้่ฏ้ฆ้ ") will spawn across the new zone, giving solo players high-stakes encounters they can stumble into organically. Meanwhile, a slate of new multiplayer activities aims to keep guilds and pickup groups busy well past launch week.
The update continues NetEase's aggressive post-launch cadence for the title, which has been positioning itself as a serious global competitor to Tencent's wuxia offerings. Cross-platform play across PC, PlayStation 5, and mobile remains a core selling point.
The insider take
In Tokyo, "Where Winds Meet" occupies an interesting niche: it's a Chinese-developed title with strong cultural fluency that Japanese players actually engage with, rather than dismissing as a Genshin clone. The decision to localize a palace-themed expansion first โ rather than another martial arts dungeon โ feels savvy for the Japanese market, where historical drama (ๆไปฃๅ) sensibilities run deep and architectural detail genuinely sells. NetEase has also been quietly building goodwill here through responsive community management, something domestic players notice in a market still scarred by rushed gacha launches. Expect Japanese streamers to lean hard into the palace exploration angle during the first weekend.
Originally reported by 4Gamer.net โ ๆๆฐ่จไบ (Japanese).