During last week’s Play Station State of Play, Umamusume: Pretty Derby and Granblue Fantasy developer Cygames announced CygamesEdge, a completely new development brand under its wing. Specializing in small-to-mid scale development, the brand’s goal is to create and release titles in rapid intervals while also building up its knowledge and expertise in game production.
The announcement, which was a bit unexpected coming from such a major studio, was met with much praise from both gamers and developers alike. Many industry veterans shared their surprise (and hopes) for the new studio, explaining why Cygames’ strategy of shifting to more frequent, compact releases over a shorter development cycle could work in today’s video game industry climate.
Commenting on his X account, veteran Sega and Mixi game producer Taira Nakamura called Cygames’ move “incredibly intriguing” in the context of the current state of the industry.
“The quality demands within game development continue to rise, and costs are skyrocketing. Major companies are making increasingly greater investments into single projects, and the risk of failure is growing proportionally. As a result, they are leaning towards relying on established IPs and replicating proven success formulas,” he wrote.
Conversely, it is also true that there have recently been many worldwide hits among small and mid-sized titles. There have been examples of games made on a lower budget, with a shorter development cycle and an unconventional concept behind them selling millions of copies. While Nakamura himself doesn’t explicitly mention it, the first example that comes to mind is the overwhelming success of Meccha Chameleon, a solo-developed low-budget party game that sold over 20 million copies in a matter of just a few months.
However, Nakamura says that it’s much more of a challenge for established major companies to develop small- to mid-sized titles, precisely because they are restrained by high player expectations. “Even if the concept itself is interesting, there’s a high chance that it will be criticized for things like ‘lacking in quality’ or ‘not having enough content’.”
In this context, Cygames’ initiative to launch CygamesEdge makes a lot of sense, Nakamura suggests. By establishing a new brand focusing on smaller titles, they can “effectively shift player expectations away from ‘major AAA production’ toward a brand that delivers unique, small- to mid-sized games.”
Aside from Nakamura, former Capcom art director and character designer Akiman (Akira Yasuda), best known for his work in Street Fighter II, Red Dead Revolver, and the Mobile Suit Gundam series, also praised the initiative for its potential to nurture rising creators.
He explains that repeating the production-to-release process is necessary for creators to gain experience in the industry, but drawn-out development cycles significantly reduce the number of these kinds of opportunities. Therefore, projects that aim to release games over a short development period are crucial for leveling up a production team.
While it seems that, unlike Shueisha Games, the copyright doesn’t go to the creators themselves (Cygames holds ownership of the IP), Akiman notes that, in turn, Cygames has a large number of experienced staff that can support the relatively fast production-to-release process CygamesEdge is aiming to achieve.
