The RWBY: Ice Queendom release date on YouTube will be on June 24, 2022. The first three episodes will be streaming early in Japan. But English fans don’t need to worry, as Crunchyroll will begin streaming RWBY: Ice Queendom on July 3, 2022.
According to RWBY: Ice Queendom’s official site, this will be the world’s fastest premiere. In addition, the EMOTION label channel on YouTube is hosting an XR LIVE & Special Talk program on June 24, 2022, at 3:00 am CMT.
The program will have voice actors from Ice Queendom Saori Hayami as Ruby and Ami Koshimizu as Yang, along with the MC: Haruka Mori and an XR Live: Void_Cords. So you will get some new information about Ice Queendom before watching the premiere, and you’ll have an XR Live concert from Void_Cords!
Do you have to watch RWBY to understand RWBY: Ice Queendom?
Nope! The first two episodes of Ice Queendom will cover seasons one, and two of RWBY, also referred to as volumes.
Episode 3, or A Nightmare Comes, will lead viewers into new characters, locations, and Grimm. Weiss will have a new role, but she’s still a part of the team!
The character’s new outfits result from Shaft, with Erin Winn and Kerry Shawcross overseeing them. Ice Queendom will also have plenty of easter eggs and callbacks to RWBY.
In other good news: Volume 9 is still coming! Unfortunately, we only have a WIP trailer, but the RWBY series isn’t ending.
What is Ice Queendom to RWBY?
Rooster Teeth has stated that RWBY: Ice Queendom is not an alternate universe or reboot. Instead, RWBY: Ice Queendom is in the same universe in RWBY and is canon-adjacent.
Canon-Adjacent means that events shown in Ice Queendom are canon, even though they have a different source and may have continuity errors. For example, Weiss’s scar is present in the trailer for Ice Queendom, but it’s gone in her new military design.
The first RWBY manga, the RWBY: Offical Manga Anthology, the companion books RWBY: After the Fall, RWBY: Before the Dawn, The World of RWBY: The Offical Companion, RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant, and RWBY: Roman Holiday is also canon-adjacent.
RWBY: Ice Queendom will be getting a manga adaptation on June 27, 2022, in the Dengeki Daioh magazine in Japan. RWBY: Arrowfell is set to come to consoles and PC in 2022.