One Piece’s Lack of Video Games Is Ruining the Franchise

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For more than two decades, One Piece has been a leading name in manga, achieving success in printed books, animated series, and live-action TV shows. The franchise is currently growing faster than ever, with incredibly high sales and a large, enthusiastic international fanbase, boosted by the recent popularity of its live-action adaptation.

Even though One Piece is incredibly popular, it lacks a truly great video game that fully captures its scope. While the story and world are fantastic, fans are increasingly noticing this gap, especially with how important gaming is to pop culture today. This is becoming a major issue for both One Piece fans and gamers as we look ahead to 2026.

One Piece Dominates Manga, But Fails at Consoles

Since it first appeared in July 1997, One Piece has become incredibly popular. As of June 2024, over 516 million copies of the manga have been sold, making it the best-selling manga series of all time. With over a thousand chapters collected into a hundred volumes, One Piece is one of the longest-running manga ever, and its success has been boosted by a long-running animated TV series from Toei Animation. It’s truly become a global hit!

It’s no secret that Netflix loves turning anime into live-action shows, so the announcement of a live-action One Piece series wasn’t entirely unexpected. However, many thought this particular story, known for its unique and fantastical adventures, would be hard to pull off. Thankfully, the first season proved Netflix up to the challenge. From the heartfelt scenes in the Egghead Island arc to the excitement surrounding the adaptation itself, One Piece remains a major part of pop culture. Eiichiro Oda’s incredible world is bigger than ever, with new secrets being revealed and attracting a whole new generation of fans.

Although One Piece is incredibly popular as a manga and features exciting pirates, its video games haven’t yet reached the same legendary level as those based on other anime. Naruto games have been successful because they capture the fast-paced action of the anime, and Dragon Ball has created classic games that are enjoyed by everyone from serious competitors to casual players. These games feel like a natural extension of the anime stories, not just simple tie-ins.

The One Piece: Pirate Warriors games delivered big battles but could become repetitive. One Piece Odyssey tried to tell a deeper story and create a more immersive RPG experience, but it struggled with a slow pace and didn’t let players explore as much as they would in the expansive One Piece world. Other One Piece games have often shortened storylines, skipped over important emotional scenes, or limited gameplay to small areas, losing the feeling of adventure and freedom that defines the series.

One Piece’s Video Game Adaptations Have a High Bar to Meet

Creating a video game based on One Piece is a great idea. The series’ expansive world, constantly evolving power levels, and memorable characters offer a lot of possibilities for gameplay. However, One Piece could be a difficult anime to turn into a game. While series like Dragon Ball and Naruto have straightforward power systems, the abilities in One Piece are unpredictable and often break the rules of reality.

Devil Fruits grant people incredible abilities – they can turn someone into rubber, let them control light or magma, or even embody abstract ideas. While these powers are creative and often funny, they’re tricky to incorporate into a typical fighting game. A simple arena battle doesn’t feel right for a series about vast oceans, but creating a huge, open-world pirate game would be very expensive and technically demanding, which might make publishers like Bandai Namco hesitant to fully commit to such a large project.

One Piece boasts a remarkably rich and extensive story. With a history spanning over 25 years, more than 30 major story arcs, and over 1,000 episodes, it’s simply too large to fit completely into a single game without cutting content. Unlike shorter series like Bleach, One Piece truly shines with its detailed world-building and emotionally satisfying conclusions that unfold over many chapters.

As One Piece gets more complex with powers like Conqueror’s Haki, Gear 5, and Zoro’s improved swordsmanship, it’s hard to turn those abilities into gameplay mechanics without making them just simple, visually impressive moves. Even villains who appear later in the series, like the Five Elders, are difficult to design because their legendary status doesn’t easily fit into typical boss battles.

When making One Piece Odyssey, the developers faced a big question: how could they let players truly feel the adventure instead of just repeating things they’ve already seen? Because One Piece is all about discovering new places, having freedom, and the thrill of not knowing what’s next, recreating that feeling in the game turned out to be harder than even creating the toughest boss battles.

One Piece Can’t Compete With New-Gen Anime Without Better Video Games

I’ve noticed that a lot of people getting into anime these days don’t start with the original manga or even watching it on TV. Instead, they often discover these series through video games. These games are a fantastic way to introduce people to these worlds, letting them experience the story firsthand. Series like Naruto and Dragon Ball are great examples – their games don’t just repeat the story, they actually help solidify it in players’ minds.

Games like fighting arenas, role-playing games, and competitive multiplayer titles often keep anime franchises alive between seasons and even after the anime ends. However, despite its immense popularity, One Piece hasn’t yet inspired a truly outstanding video game that fully lives up to the quality of the original story. While games such as One Piece Odyssey have been promising, none have managed to recreate the vastness, open-endedness, and emotional impact of the Grand Line adventure.

I’ve noticed that staying popular these days really depends on keeping fans actively involved. A good video game can be a fantastic way to introduce someone to One Piece – maybe they wouldn’t pick up the first manga volume otherwise. These games also build strong communities where people compete and share their experiences, creating awesome streaming content and deepening the overall fandom beyond just watching the anime each week. Without that interactive side, One Piece might feel a little distant to people who are used to really getting involved in the worlds they love through gaming.

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2026-02-26 05:39