Less than a week ago, Capcom announced that its new sci-fi action-adventure game Pragmata will be releasing one week earlier than originally scheduled, with its Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions coming on April 17, 2026 (note that the Nintendo Switch 2 version will launch on the 24th, as originally planned). Set in the near future, the story of Pragmata follows protagonists Hugh and Diana as they shoot and hack their way through a lunar research station.
In a recent interview with Korean media outlet ThisIsGame, Pragmata director Yonghee Cho and producer Naoto Oyama discussed the difficulties of creating a story within a science-fiction genre, while also mentioning that the game’s worldbuilding was supervised by none other than Shoji Kawamori, the original creator of the Macross sci-fi mecha franchise.
According to Cho, sci-fi stories are rather difficult to create, and as the genre requires a lot of prior knowledge, it’s usually only the people who truly understand it that manage to pull it off. On top of that, going too deep into the “science” aspect might come across as unapproachable for some players, which is why the devs at Capcom went for a more straightforward approach to the story. “If we made the sci-fi elements too complex, it might have made the audience lose interest,” Cho explained. “We only used them as a means to set the mood, while keeping the core framework of the story focused on Hugh and Diana. It isn’t anything close to hard science fiction, but since I love the genre, I worked hard to capture that atmosphere” (note that this is based on machine translation, so exact nuances should be taken with a grain of salt).
“We also had to consider where to draw the line when it comes to sci-fi elements. If we fill the new IP with strange stuff nobody has ever seen before, it might end up coming off as just alienating,” Oyama said. But while Capcom opted to approach sci-fi in a way that could be universally enjoyed, he explains that, thanks to Macross creator and sci-fi veteran Shoji Kawamori, there are elements that may leave some players surprised. “We went for a more accessible direction, but at the same time, we had the science-fiction worldbuilding reviewed by Shoji Kawamori, so I’m sure there will be many scenes that would make players go: Wait, they really put that in as well?”
“We generally avoided adding narrative beats that would be difficult to understand without prior knowledge of the lore into the main story. However, you’ll still be able to get a good taste of sci-fi through the files and holograms,” Cho added.
Apparently, during the development process, Cho watched and played a number of sci-fi works as reference, though he admits that it was (surprisingly) rather difficult to find stories that took place in the near future. And while there wasn’t any specific work that influenced Pragmata, the director cites Oblivion (2013) with Tom Cruise and the manga Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro as some of his favorites in the genre.
Pragmata is set to launch on April 17, 2026 for PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X❘S, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version launching on April 24. A demo is currently available on Steam.
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