Free-to-play, martial arts-inspired MMORPG Swordsman 'coming soon'

Perfect World Entertainment will release a martial arts-based, free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game called Swordsman, the publisher recently announced.

The game is based on the written works of Louis Cha, also known as Jin Yong, and will run on the Angelica 3 engine. Players will "explore the grand martial arts world" and attempt to master their fighting skills as one of 10 different classes during the Ming Dynasty era.

Speaking about the new game, Perfect World's general manager of publisher, Andrew Brown, explained that the company is "constantly looking" to add to its lineup. Perfect World's previous games include Dungeons and Dragons Neverwinter, Star Trek Online and Blacklight: Retribution.

"Bringing Swordsman to a Western audience is something we've wanted to do all along," Brown said. "With its rich story and engaging gameplay, Swordsman is a cultivation of our previous and successful titles we've brought over from our parent company Perfect World Inc."

For more on the game, check out the announcement trailer below.

Swordsman is currently in alpha testing. Registration for the upcoming closed beta is open now.