Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad, developed by Game Studio and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, launched on PC on July 10. The console versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S went live a day earlier on the 9th. The game retells the early floors of the floating castle Aincrad, where the original light novel begins, and for the first time in the series the story centers on an avatar the player creates rather than an established lead like Kirito. Combat plays out in real time with no magic classes, instead asking players to build around six weapon types: sword and shield, dagger, rapier, mace, two-handed sword, and two-handed axe.

The Deluxe and Ultimate editions include early access to a high-difficulty Death Game mode that erases save data when the character dies. Early critical reception abroad has been lukewarm, however. GameMeca reported a Metacritic score of 64, with repetitive enemies and quests cited as a common complaint.