Shinobi Story was an open-world Naruto MMORPG that I started in 2019. More than 56,000 players joined over five years, and the project generated more than one million impressions.

I began as a solo founder. The game eventually became my full-time job for three years and grew into a live-service project supported by 11 volunteer developers.

Why I started it

I grew up watching Naruto in the early 2000s and wanted to play a version of that world that did not exist: a persistent open world where players could learn jutsu, join clans, fight each other, and build their own stories.

By 2019 I had learned enough C++, Lua, 3D world design, and server architecture to attempt it. I used the World of Warcraft engine as the technical foundation, then built a new game on top of it.

What I built

My work covered the in-game world map, UI, combat systems, jutsu visuals, monetization, and business operations. The playable continent included original regions, towns, shrines, battlegrounds, world bosses, and open-world PvP spaces.

The Shinobi Story project page includes more than 40 screenshots of the world, combat, character systems, cosmetics, and live events. Those images are the most complete visual record of the project.

Running a live-service game

We shipped a patch roughly every 30 days for three years. The final days before each release were spent coordinating content, testing builds, and balancing systems together on calls. After release, we joined the players in-game and watched how they used what we had made.

That feedback loop shaped the project. A live game is never only the code or map. It is also the community’s behavior, the relationships players form, and the way a team responds to what actually happens after launch.

Leading a volunteer team

The development team grew to 11 volunteers. My job was to give people enough direction and technical structure to contribute their own creativity to a shared world.

The project was funded by a small friends-and-family angel round. That let us keep operating and shipping while the team remained volunteer-led.

The result

  • More than 56,000 total players
  • More than one million impressions
  • Five years of development, from 2019 through 2024
  • A patch approximately every 30 days for three years
  • 11 volunteer developers

The original live project ended in 2024. Its World of Warcraft-based codebase remains open source, which gives the technical work a life beyond that version of the game.

Shinobi Story returns

At the start of August 2026, Shinobi Story returned. I have already assembled a small team to build its next chapter as a standalone ninja MMORPG in Unreal Engine.

This is not simply a restart of the original World of Warcraft-based project. It is a new standalone game that carries forward the world-building, combat, community, and live-service lessons from the first five years.

For the full project description, metrics, technology list, gameplay video, and gallery, see Shinobi Story.