We asked Craftopia’s developers about the game’s soaring popularity and response to the Seamless World Update
Craftopia, the survival action game by Japanese game developer Pocket Pair, has been available in early access since September 2020, for Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S/PC (Steam/Microsoft Store).
On June 28, a major “Seamless World update” was released for this title, in which the existing world map of the game was replaced with a vast, seamless new map. The update also includes new actions and balance adjustments. Though the main theme of the update was introducing a seamless world, the game has undergone fundamental changes as a whole.
Immediately after the update was released, the number of concurrent players on Steam skyrocketed, peaking at over 10,000 players (SteamDB), and the game trended on social media among excited fans.
How do the developers of Craftopia feel about the response so far? We asked Takuro Mizobe, the CEO of Pocket Pair, what he thinks of the rapid increase in the number of players and what he thinks is noteworthy about this update.
── How did the team feel about the sudden explosion in the number of players? Were you expecting it?
Mizobe:
None of us had expected such a great response. We’re so grateful to all the players enjoying Craftopia.
── The game has been trending on Twitter for some time now. What do you think is the reason for this surge in popularity?
Mizobe:
We released Craftopia in early access in September 2020. At the time, the concept of combining various games was one thing, but unintentional bugs and gameplay that took advantage of them also made the game gather some attention, and we felt that the game community in general was very supportive of the game. But at the same time, since the game was released in an incomplete state, in early access, we felt that the amount of content was insufficient and that certain aspects of the game were not satisfactory in terms of quality.
Following the release, we updated the game daily, doing our best to meet players’ expectations. But about one year into the process, we began to realize that there were fundamental issues that could not be improved in the short span of a day or week. The biggest issue was the loading time needed whenever moving to a different map, which spoiled the playing experience greatly. This is a point that we had been aware of from the beginning of development, but due to man-hour related constraints, we had no choice but to compromise and proceed with a design that included loading. But, in the end, we concluded that it was not acceptable in this day and age for all players in a multiplayer game to have to move at the same time when one player moves to a different map, and thus decided to radically redesign the game in its entirety.
These are the circumstances that bore the “Seamless World update”. We apologize to our players for the long wait, but during these two years, we did our best to incorporate as much of the feedback we received from players as possible. I feel that the great response to this update is a result of the enthusiasm of the players who had been patiently waiting for the seamless update to be released all this time, and I have nothing but gratitude for their patience.
── How big is the surge in popularity now compared to other times during the early access period?
Mizobe:
We believe that this is the second largest wave after the initial release. In general, buy-to-play games peak right after their release, but it is very rare to see such a big surge in popularity at this point in time, almost three years after release.
── In a previous interview, you mentioned that there were many Japanese players (30-40%). How has Craftopia’s player demographic changed in the meantime?
Mizobe:
Immediately following the release, we had a high percentage of players from Japan and China, but the percentage of players from the U.S. has been gradually increasing since then. Now, after the update, we are again seeing a lot of excitement in Japan, with more than 30% of players being from Japan.
── The seamless update changes Craftopia’s in-game experience significantly. What are some points you wish players would pay special attention to?
Mizobe:
Craftopia itself is a game that picks out and combines the best out of a variety of elements so it’s difficult to single out particular points, but I think that a base-building game that has such a vast and free world is quite rare. Survival-type games do have them, but they don’t have convenient features such as fast travel. I think the game is surprisingly well-balanced, and I hope players will take their time enjoying both the fun of Minecraft-like base-building and the adventure of an open world game.
── Did you make any fun discoveries in the game after the update?
Mizobe:
The pets immediately going out of control made me laugh, I wasn’t expecting that at all.
I would also like to draw players’ attention to the AI chat function.
── Thank you for your time!
Craftopia is currently available for Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S/PC (Steam/Microsoft Store) and is part of the “Summer Sale 2023” on Steam, with a 40% discount off the regular price until July 14.
Written by. Amber V based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-07-01 11:53 JST)
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