{"id":55824,"date":"2026-01-16T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=55824"},"modified":"2026-01-16T13:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T04:56:12","slug":"keep-digging-developers-to-sponsor-real-life-national-hole-digging-competition-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/keep-digging-developers-to-sponsor-real-life-national-hole-digging-competition-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep Digging\u00a0developers\u00a0to sponsor\u00a0real-life\u00a0national hole-digging competition in Japan\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Wild Dog, the\u00a0indie\u00a0studio behind\u00a0<strong>Keep Digging<\/strong>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WILDDOG_Game_JP\/status\/2011623420975632563?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a>\u00a0that it will be\u00a0sponsoring Japan\u2019s 24th National Hole\u00a0Digging Competition.\u00a0The\u00a0event is set\u00a0to take place\u00a0on February 1 at Narita\u00a0Dream\u00a0Farm, and\u00a0the\u00a0devs\u00a0have created a collaboration\u00a0promo\u00a0video featuring the game and\u00a0farm\u00a0mascot\u00a0Yumeko-chan ahead of the big day.\u00a0<\/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=\"KeepDigging x \u6210\u7530\u3086\u3081\u7267\u5834 \u30d7\u30ed\u30e2\u30fc\u30b7\u30e7\u30f3\u52d5\u753b\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/71pkQZReBRc?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>As its name suggests, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yumebokujo.com\/?p=54358\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Hole Digging Competition,<\/a> which began in 2001, is an annual event\u00a0whose main event\u00a0has\u00a0teams of up to four members compete\u00a0to\u00a0dig the deepest hole possible within 20 minutes.\u00a0It\u00a0attracts over\u00a01,200 hole-diggers\u00a0yearly, with\u00a0divisions for solo diggers, as well as all-female and all-children teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of providing mobile batteries&nbsp;as prizes&nbsp;to participants, Wild Dog will also send a team&nbsp;comprised&nbsp;of developers to join the main&nbsp;event. Studio CEO&nbsp;Hiroto&nbsp;Chujo&nbsp;had a few words to say:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The National Hole Digging Competition is a truly unique, historic event with an incredibly high level of passion for hole digging. We are deeply honored to be able to sponsor such a competition. We hope many people will experience the joy of&nbsp;real&nbsp;digging&nbsp;alongside&nbsp;the&nbsp;simulated&nbsp;gameplay&nbsp;of Keep Digging.&nbsp;As developers,&nbsp;we also aim to utilize the experience of actual hole digging in our future&nbsp;projects.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1517\" height=\"852\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1517px) 100vw, 1517px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260116-55824-001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-55826\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260116-55824-001.jpg 1517w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260116-55824-001-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260116-55824-001-768x431.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Wild Dog\u2019s sponsorship of&nbsp;Japan\u2019s&nbsp;National Hole Digging Competition&nbsp;is nothing short of&nbsp;on-point. Considering&nbsp;Keep Digging\u2019s&nbsp;core gameplay loop revolves around digging ridiculously deep holes and crafting gear to dig even deeper holes, there&nbsp;couldn\u2019t&nbsp;be a more&nbsp;appropriate event&nbsp;for it to be a part of.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep Digging is available for Windows (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3585800\/Keep_Digging\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Considering Keep Digging revolves around digging ridiculously deep holes, there\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0be a more\u00a0appropriate collaboration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":55825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-55824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indie-games","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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