“For thirty years, Legend of the Five Rings has invited players to shape the fate of an empire — and in 2025, that story is alive in more ways than ever.”
– Brian Mulcahy, Head of Franchise Development, Asmodee
ROSEVILLE, MN, September 16, 2025 – Last month, more than 70,000 people descended on downtown Indianapolis for Gen Con, the largest and longest-running gaming convention in North America. Among the crowds of board gamers, roleplayers, trading card game collectors and others were many for whom the world of Legend of the Five Rings, in particular, holds a special place in their heart.
Legend of the Five Rings and Gen Con have been associated throughout the franchise’s history, with the original collectable card game – or CCG – first previewed at Gen Con 1995, in Milwaukee. In the mid-90s, the CCG boom was in full swing, led by Magic: The Gathering. From the start, Legend of the Five Rings stood out. The game’s setting – the Emerald Empire of Rokugan – took its inspiration from Japan, China and other Asian cultures, in contrast to the worlds of wizards, elves and dwarfs common to fantasy gaming at the time, and the game’s storyline – an epic saga of rival Great Clans of samurai competing for power, influence and the Emperor’s favour – was decided by the players themselves through story tournaments played at gaming conventions like Gen Con and others.
Since then, Legend of the Five Rings has grown into a franchise spanning a series of tabletop games, novels and short stories, comic books, a video game and more. With this year marking 30 years of Legend of the Five Rings, publisher Asmodee has plans to celebrate the franchise’s legacy, with a series of retrospectives, interviews and a new podcast planned. Celebrations began on the franchise’s website, L5R.com, on July 30, to coincide with this year’s Gen Con and will continue throughout the rest of the year.
Tabletop to desktop
2025 has already been a big year for Legend of the Five Rings, with the release of the first ever L5R video game – Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings, from Amplifier Studios – in March, bringing Legend of the Five Rings’ rich legacy of tactical combat, political intrigue, and clan loyalty to life in a hybrid roguelite-strategy video game. The game, available via Steam for PC, has racked up positive reviews across the board.
Champions will Rally for Rokugan
This summer, Monolith Board Games raised over $1.8 Million on Gamefound for Champions of Rokugan, a miniatures-heavy “cooperative” board game for 1 to 5 players. With over 160 beautiful 35−38mm sculpts, players take on the role of some of the greatest heroes of the Legend of the Five Rings universe and recreate the epic struggles of the Clan Wars storyline. The game comes with custom dice representing the Five Rings, and the elements generated on a given roll determine the kinds of actions your champion can take. The game will be available in English, French, German, and Spanish on release.
But there’s big news for the future, too…
War has come to Rokugan
As well as celebrations for 30 years of the franchise, 2025 features several key releases for Legend of the Five Rings. The first of these arrived August 5, in the shape of A Throne Betrayed, the first novel in the epic new Clan Wars series, by New York Times award-winning author Julie Kagawa and J.T. Nicholas, published by Aconyte Books. The Clan Wars sees Rokugan in turmoil, with the Emperor murdered and the Emerald Empire hanging by a thread. The Clan Wars has been the story at the heart of Legend of the Five Rings throughout its thirty-year history, and this epic new series presents the definitive telling of these events.
Chasing the wind
Soon after the launch of the original collectable card game, L5R entered the world of roleplaying games. The franchise’s rich, deep setting was ideally suited to the storytelling and exploration of tabletop RPGs. On August 8 EDGE Studio released the next supplement for the latest edition of the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game, focusing on the Unicorn Clan. This 178-page sourcebook tells the story of the five families of the Unicorn Clan and their struggles to find belonging in an Empire that in many ways considers them outsiders. Follow the Sand Road and discover the cultures of the Ujik and the Qamarist Caliphate, and how they have influenced the perspective of the Unicorn.
Something’s Stirring in Toshi Ranbo…
Following the success of last year’s River of Gold, which won a place in Dice Tower’s coveted Top 10 Games of 2024, Office Dog have announced the second title in their journey into the Emerald Empire, with Tessen: The Battle for Toshi Ranbo planned for Fall 2026. Tessen is an exciting new board game in which players take control of one of the seven Great Clans, each with its own unique abilities… and secret agendas. Tessen: The Battle for Toshi Ranbo blends rich storytelling with tactical gameplay to deliver an area control, engine-building board game that is carefully crafted for both fans of Legends of the Five Rings and strategy board game enthusiasts alike. What’s more, it can be played in 60 minutes.
About Aconyte Books
Aconyte Books is Asmodee’s fiction-publishing arm, producing novels, short stories and more for key Asmodee franchises including Legend of the Five Rings, Arkham Horror and Twilight Imperium.
Website: aconytebooks.com
Press Enquiries: Ashley Stephens: a.stephens@asmodee.com
About EDGE Studio
As the premier roleplaying games studio in the Asmodee Group, Edge is responsible for turning the games and settings of its partner studios into rich and exciting worlds to explore, while also partnering with other companies to localize and publish licensed games.
Website: EDGE Studio
Press Enquiries: Mathieu Sadacca: msadacca@edge-studio.net
About Office Dog
Office Dog is a gamer’s best friend. Founded in 2022 as Asmodee North America’s developmental studio, Office Dog works directly with community game designers and developers to bring fresh new titles to the Asmodee catalogue. Office Dog publish titles including River of Gold and The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick Taking Game.
Website: officedoggames.com
Press Enquiries: Krystal Rose: krose@asmodee.com
About Shadowveil
Shadowveil: Legend of the Five Rings is a roguelite adventure strategy video game, developed by Palindrome Interactive and published by Amplifier Studios, available on Steam for PC.
Website: Shadowveil on Steam
Press Enquiries: Tim Glaus: tim.glaus@amplifiergameinvest.com
