VIVERSE Launches World's First Free Roam VR Experience Set Inside Historic Osaka Castle

The joint immersive production between NHK, NHK Promotions, NTT DOCOMO Studio & Live, and HTC brings Japan's lost samurai era back to life

BERKELEY, Calif. & TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VIVERSE, the web content distribution platform by HTC, today announced the world premiere of Samurai's Dream: The Ghosts of Osaka Castle, an immersive Free Roam VR and Location-Based Entertainment (LBE) experience that transports audiences back to the Sengoku period to walk inside one of Japan's most iconic, and long-lost, landmarks: the Osaka Castle.

The launch marks the first international co-production between NHK, NHK Promotions, NTT DOCOMO Studio & Live, and VIVERSE, bringing together Japan's most trusted public broadcaster, promotional arm and advanced live entertainment infrastructure with world-leading XR technology. The collaboration reflects a shared vision: to honor Japan's cultural heritage by transforming it into a cinematic story and making it accessible to global audiences.

"The next great entertainment medium isn't a screen, but a room. VIVERSE exists to make location-based immersive experiences as turnkey and globally scalable as streaming,” said Joseph Lin, General Manager of VIVERSE. “We’re excited to be partnering with the world's greatest cultural institutions and production companies to bring history, heritage, and storytelling to life. What we've built with our partners is a blueprint for what that future of interactive entertainment looks like."

The experience is developed in conjunction with NHK's TV broadcast program Historical Detective Immersive ~ VR! Reproducing the Phantom Toyotomi Osaka Castle, bringing together the historical and creative expertise of the NHK Group, cultivated through decades of Taiga dramas and historical documentaries.

Experience the Immersive Wonder of Osaka Castle

Audiences will travel back to the Sengoku period (15th–16th centuries) to walk through Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Osaka Castle at the height of its glory, its halls filled with splendor, legendary samurai armor brought to life, and wild beasts roaming its grounds. This famous landmark has been reconstructed through NHK's decades of historical research and continuously refined CG archives and is now experienced through immersive VR technology.

More than 90% of the assets in the experience originate from NHK's historical productions, ensuring that every environment and artifact is grounded in documentary-level authenticity.

Inspired by the Japanese aesthetic of Yūgen - a sense of mystery, impermanence, and hidden depth - visitors are guided by a pale blue flame through floating scaffolds, golden tea rooms, and vast battlefields, where objects move and shadows reveal the ambitions and losses of the samurai age.

How Two World-Class Technologies Made the Experience Possible

The experience is powered by HTC's XR ecosystem, combining VIVERSE's GEM (Group Experience Management) system with HTC VIVE's high-fidelity VR Head-Mounted Displays to transform solo VR into a synchronized, free-roaming collective journey. GEM enables large groups of participants to move and interact freely inside a large physical venue, experiencing the story with each other within the same unfolding narrative.

NHK led the cinematic vision, bringing its rigorous CG worlds (originally exceeding twenty million polygons) into real-time XR performance with cinematic lighting faithfully adapted for virtual space. Together, these systems deliver Free-Roaming Shared Reality, enabling audiences to inhabit history collectively.

A New Language for Cultural Storytelling

Samurai's Dream is the first production of its kind: a beautiful co-production between a public broadcaster, a live entertainment operator, and an XR platform. It premiered in Tokyo on March 20^th, 2026, with events planned across Japan and internationally.

• Official Website: https://nhk-vr-samurais-dream.jp/en/index.html
• Trailer Video: https://worlds.viverse.com/hEayY8j

About VIVERSE

VIVERSE is an open and user-centric 3D place that connects people from all walks of life to a boundless virtual world. We strive to empower as many people as possible to explore, work, and play in a safe environment. Every experience is unique, and your transactions and data are secure. VIVERSE provides an array of tools and services for individuals, creators, corporations, and developers to build and explore in this immersive space. Visit the VIVERSE website at www.viverse.com.