Solo Leveling: KARMA Drops Two New Trailers, and the 27-Year Monarch War Finally Gets Its Story

Netmarble has spent the past couple of years turning ‘Solo Leveling‘ into one of gaming’s biggest anime-adjacent success stories, with ‘Solo Leveling: Arise’ consistently performing well since its launch. That momentum has clearly convinced the publisher there’s room in the franchise for something entirely different, built around mechanics fans haven’t seen from the series before.

That expansion first surfaced last year at Anime Expo 2025, when Netmarble officially unveiled ‘Solo Leveling: KARMA,’ a roguelite action RPG developed by Netmarble Neo that takes the franchise’s signature hack-and-slash combat and reworks it around isometric, run-based gameplay reminiscent of titles like ‘Hades.’ The announcement immediately generated buzz for daring to reimagine the property’s combat formula so drastically.

That anticipation just got a fresh boost. Netmarble and Netmarble Neo unveiled two brand-new trailers for ‘Solo Leveling: KARMA’ during Tokyo Game Show 2026, giving fans their most detailed look yet at both the game’s core mechanics and the previously unexplored corner of the series’ story it plans to tell.

2 New Trailers for 'SOLO LEVELING: Karma'!

1. Rogue-lite Action RPG Cinematic Trailer:pic.twitter.com/GNZM9hSLNV

— Anime Updates (@animeupdates) September 17, 2026

The cinematic trailer dives into the 27-year Monarch War, a period referenced within the original ‘Solo Leveling’ story but never explored in detail until now. Set inside a mysterious dimensional gap, the trailer follows Sung Jinwoo’s lonely, ongoing battle during this stretch, as hunters corrupted by unnatural power fall under the control of a mysterious figure operating from the shadows.

That setting gives the game room to genuinely expand the franchise’s universe without simply retreading events fans have already seen play out elsewhere. According to the game’s official description, the goal of Jinwoo’s journey throughout this period centers on the Broken Cup of Reincarnation, an artifact tied directly to his own fractured memories.

'SOLO LEVELING: Karma'

2. Overview Trailer:pic.twitter.com/OhCoeOiLuB

— Anime Updates (@animeupdates) September 17, 2026

The companion gameplay overview trailer focuses squarely on combat systems and playable characters, breaking things down into a few key chapters: improving fighting style through weapons and buffs, extending battles using Shadows and Hunters, and confronting the emergence of increasingly dangerous mutant hunters. Players will be able to control a mix of both Hunters and Shadows, each offering distinct attacks and combat approaches.

That structure fits the roguelite genre’s core appeal, built around repeated runs, evolving upgrades, and experimentation as central pillars of progression. Netmarble hasn’t yet detailed exactly how much narrative content will carry over between individual runs, leaving one of the more interesting structural questions still unanswered.

Despite the steady trickle of new trailers, Netmarble has once again stopped short of confirming a specific release date for ‘Solo Leveling: KARMA.’ The game remains officially slated for a 2026 launch across PC, iOS, and Android, though with the year winding down, fans are increasingly eager for a firmer timeline.

Given how much additional footage Netmarble has continued rolling out throughout the year, including this latest pair of trailers at Tokyo Game Show, it seems likely more concrete release details could arrive before 2026 wraps up entirely.

Between ‘Arise’s’ continued success and ‘KARMA’s’ genre-bending approach to the same universe, Netmarble appears fully committed to building out ‘Solo Leveling’ as a multi-format franchise rather than a single ongoing mobile title. Whether the roguelite formula resonates as strongly with fans as the franchise’s existing action RPG has remains to be seen once the game finally launches.

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