{"id":49498,"date":"2025-06-28T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=49498"},"modified":"2025-11-05T17:47:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T08:47:47","slug":"level-5-ceo-explains-why-delays-happen-so-much-and-why-just-announcing-things-later-isnt-always-a-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/game-development\/level-5-ceo-explains-why-delays-happen-so-much-and-why-just-announcing-things-later-isnt-always-a-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"Level-5 CEO explains why delays happen so much and why \u201cjust announcing things later\u201d isn\u2019t always a solution\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Level-5<\/strong> is a game developer known for its high-quality output, but it&#8217;s also somewhat <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/level-5s-elaborate-animal-crossing-parody-draws-criticism-as-japanese-fans-wonder-wheres-that-game-you-promised-6-years-ago\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">infamous for delaying its releases.<\/a> Case in point, their flagship title Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is set to release in August this year, despite its initial release window being way back in 2018. Similarly, the recently launched Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time also went through several delays, although its extended development period <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/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\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">seems to have saved it<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a recent talk show hosted by <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/zAKdDS6N0SE?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Denfaminicogamer Channel<\/a>, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino offered some interesting insights about why the developer is often late on its promises, and why \u201cjust announce the game later\u201d isn\u2019t as simple a solution as it seems.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u3072\u308d\u3086\u304d\u00d7\u30ec\u30d9\u30eb\u30d5\u30a1\u30a4\u30d6\u65e5\u91ce\u6643\u535a\u6c0f\u00d7\u30b9\u30af\u30a6\u30a7\u30a2\u30fb\u30a8\u30cb\u30c3\u30af\u30b9\u5409\u7530\u76f4\u6a39\u6c0f\u304c\u8ee2\u8077\u30b2\u30fc\u306b\u3064\u3044\u3066\u8a9e\u308a\u5408\u3063\u3066\u307f\u305f\u3010\u30d5\u30a1\u30f3\u30bf\u30b8\u30fc\u30e9\u30a4\u30d5\uff49\u767a\u58f2\u8a18\u5ff5\u7279\u5225\u5bfe\u8ac7\u3011\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zAKdDS6N0SE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hino explains that back when Yo-Kai Watch was at the peak of its popularity, Level-5 had too many lines developing content related to the IP simultaneously, which made it impossible to handle everything up to standard. Hino also found it hard to feel engaged with each project, and this experience contributed to him forming a new stance on game development. \u201cNow, our philosophy, or rather company policy, is to refine our games thoroughly, no matter how much criticism we get for being late.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, it\u2019s not like Level-5&#8217;s release dates are arbitrary. \u201cWhen we decide on a release date, it&#8217;s because we truly believe we can complete the game during that time.\u201d According to Hino, projects that don\u2019t encounter major issues mid-development (the kind that would require ground-up reworking) <em>do <\/em>tend to go mostly according to their estimated schedules. However, he points out that certain flaws only become apparent after a build is playable, which complicates things. \u201cWe try playing the game and go, \u2018Oh wait, this is kind of boring,\u2019 and then we have to enter the second round of development.\u201d The only way to prevent this would be to form a schedule under the assumption that they might have to rebuild the game mid-development, which hardly sounds practical.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1395\" height=\"782\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1395px) 100vw, 1395px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250124-49471-header.jpg\" alt=\"Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time\" class=\"wp-image-49472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250124-49471-header.jpg 1395w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250124-49471-header-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250124-49471-header-768x431.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked \u201cWhy don\u2019t you just make your announcements later on?\u201d Hino agrees that it\u2019s an entirely sound argument, commenting, \u201cThat\u2019s what everyone tells us.\u201d However, he also explains that, in the case of transmedia projects like Yo-Kai Watch and Inazuma Eleven, making an official announcement is crucial for gaining allies. Without committing to an announcement, publicly showing footage and having a clear project, you can\u2019t form important partnerships related to licensing, anime and merchandising, because third parties won\u2019t trust you, Hino explains.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Level-5&#8217;s CEO doesn\u2019t specify whether such partnerships affect their development budget, but he comments that it\u2019s hard to get a transmedia project off the ground without an announcement. Furthermore, if the announced release date is too far in the future, say three years from now, potential partners will not make a move either. Hino acknowledges that Level-5&#8217;s past experience with transmedia projects has affected the way they time announcements, which has contributed to delays.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1291\" height=\"740\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1291px) 100vw, 1291px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250627-49498-001r.jpg\" alt=\"Professor Layton\" class=\"wp-image-49501\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250627-49498-001r.jpg 1291w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250627-49498-001r-380x218.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250627-49498-001r-768x440.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For the time being, Level-5&#8217;s approach seems to be announcing a relatively reasonable release window, working towards it, and unapologetically taking any extra time they need (albeit there is a limit, Hino acknowledges) until the game meets their standards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to Akihiro Hino, Level-5 is set on polishing its games no matter how much it gets criticized for delays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":49500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Level-5 CEO explains why delays happen so much and why \u201cjust announcing things later\u201d isn\u2019t always a solution\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to Akihiro Hino, Level-5 is set on polishing its games no matter how much it gets criticized for delays.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/game-development\/level-5-ceo-explains-why-delays-happen-so-much-and-why-just-announcing-things-later-isnt-always-a-solution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Level-5 CEO explains why delays happen so much and why \u201cjust announcing things later\u201d isn\u2019t always a solution\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to Akihiro Hino, Level-5 is set on polishing its games no matter how much it gets criticized for delays.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/game-development\/level-5-ceo-explains-why-delays-happen-so-much-and-why-just-announcing-things-later-isnt-always-a-solution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-27T15:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-05T08:47:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250627-49498-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1398\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amber V\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Level-5 CEO explains why delays happen so much and why \u201cjust announcing things later\u201d isn\u2019t always a solution\u00a0 - 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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.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/amber-vjestica\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49498"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53653,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49498\/revisions\/53653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}