Nioh was first announced by original developer Koei in 2004 under its working title "Oni". In addition to the game, which was slated for a 2006 release, a feature film directed by Kurosawa's son Hisao Kurosawa would be produced alongside and inspire the game: the entire project's budget was estimated as being three billion yen. The movie tie-in was eventually cancelled in 2005 due to unspecified production problems, with the game becoming a standalone project. Nioh was first shown off in a trailer at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo, where it was announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. At the time, the title was romanized as "Ni-Oh". Initially slated for a 2006 release, Nioh missed its announced release date, and no update on the game was issued until 2009, when Koei Tecmo stated that the title was still in development. Similar updates would be issued over the following six years. The game, now retitled slightly as Nioh, was reintroduced at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show as a PlayStation 4 exclusive, with a scheduled launch in Japan in 2016.It was later announced for an international release at the PlayStation Experience event in December of that year, also in 2016.