Level-5 CEO explains why delays happen so much and why “just announcing things later” isn’t always a solution
According to Akihiro Hino, Level-5 is set on polishing its games no matter how much it gets criticized for delays.
VERACITY IN GAMING
VERACITY IN GAMING
Amber V
Editor-in-Chief since October 2023.
She grew up playing Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein with her dad, and is now enamored with obscure Japanese video games and internet culture. Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.
Death Stranding 2’s Kojima-related Easter Eggs were all self-inserted, because his team refused to humor him
Hideo Kojima says he was heartlessly ignored by his staff when it came to putting self-inserty Easter Eggs into Death Stranding 2.
Nintendo games completely excluded from Japan’s biggest speedrunning event, raising eyebrows
Nintendo titles like Super Mario 64 and Splatoon have disappeared from the roster of RTA in Japan Summer 2025.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time owes its success to critical game design changes made only 1 year before launch, Level-5 CEO says
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time went through a complete overhaul mid-2024 that drastically improved playability.
Sega says Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is “selling well” as it reports highest companywide profit figures in recent years
Sales of past full-price titles, as well as new releases such as Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Sonic X Shadow Generations contributed to the growth.
Square Enix’s non-committal nod to shareholders is not them promising a big comeback of turn-based RPGs, nor praise of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Comments from Square Enix's recent shareholders meeting have been misunderstood, likely due to the language barrier.
Final Fantasy Tactics’ political messaging is just as relevant now as it was 30 years ago, director says. “Sadly, the world has not changed”
Final Fantasy Tactics original director and scenario writer Yasumi Matsuno thinks the world might have even been better in the 1990s.
Shin Megami Tensei artist Kazuma Kaneko reveals he left Atlus 10 years ago to pursue mobile game development
Kazuma Kaneko shares deeper insight about why he left Atlus, what he's been doing for the past decade, and why he's chosen mobile games.
Masahiro Sakurai explains why his company doesn’t hire employees. “There is a conflict between game development and business management”
Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has his own company, but its only employees are himself and his wife.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger took 7-8 years to make, fueled by the “madness” of its passionate dev team
Digimon Story: Time Stranger producer Ryosuke Hara talks about what led to the game's prolonged development cycle.
Japanese sex doll museum bans major VTuber agency from visits in furious public announcement
In a bizarre case, Japan's major VTuber agency Nijisanji has been banned from making visits to a sex doll museum,
Steam Next Fest disappoints Japanese indie devs with meager Wishlist gains – but there’s an important catch to how the algorithm works
Steam Next Fest is known for giving developers a golden opportunity to gain visibility - but there are important factors to consider.