{"id":69005,"date":"2026-06-30T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=69005"},"modified":"2026-06-30T18:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T09:09:24","slug":"meccha-chameleon-developers-say-the-secret-behind-their-2-month-dev-cycle-is-asset-reuse-and-a-make-it-exist-first-perfect-it-later-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/meccha-chameleon-developers-say-the-secret-behind-their-2-month-dev-cycle-is-asset-reuse-and-a-make-it-exist-first-perfect-it-later-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Meccha Chameleon developers say the secret behind their 2-month dev cycle is asset reuse and a &#8220;make it exist first, perfect it later&#8221; approach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Viral hide-and-seek multiplayer game Meccha Chameleon continues to set new records, and on June 26, &nbsp;it rocketed past its milestone of 10 million copies sold on Steam. The game\u2019s success came as a surprise even to the codevelopers, Lemorion and Haganeiro as, according to them, it only took a few months to cobble together, with zero spending on ads or servers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gamewith.jp\/gamedb\/17059\/articles\/59486\"><\/a>In an X post shortly after the game\u2019s release, co-developer Haganeiro revealed that Meccha Chameleon &#8220;only took 2 months.\u201d Counting the time it took to make the components that were reused from the studio\u2019s previous projects, the total dev time would only clock in at about 4~5 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/gamewith.jp\/gamedb\/17059\/articles\/59486\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GameWith<\/a>, the cocreators discussed how they managed to make a game on such short notice, and their development philosophy of starting small and then building upon it afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u3081\u3063\u3061\u3083\u30ab\u30e1\u30ec\u30aa\u30f3\u306e\u958b\u767a\u671f\u9593\u306f2\u30f6\u6708\u3067\u3059<br>\u524d\u4f5c\u304b\u3089\u4f7f\u3044\u56de\u3057\u305f\u6a5f\u80fd\u306a\u3069\u3092\u542b\u3081\u308b\u3068\u3059\u308b\u3068\u5408\u8a08\u5927\u4f534~5\u30f6\u6708\u3067\u3059<br> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/%E3%82%81%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A1%E3%82%83%E3%82%AB%E3%83%A1%E3%83%AC%E3%82%AA%E3%83%B3?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#\u3081\u3063\u3061\u3083\u30ab\u30e1\u30ec\u30aa\u30f3<\/a><\/p>&mdash; HAGANEIRO\/\u306f\u304c\u306d\u3044\u308d (@haganeiro_fn) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/haganeiro_fn\/status\/2067417362555642147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 18, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lemorion explained the secret to the short production period and frequent updates is in development flow. First, they create the whole game with bare minimum systems and graphics, just enough to be playable, adding on various elements until they end up with a product they find satisfactory. \u201cWe found that creating the entire thing first allows us to hit the finish line more efficiently, and the reassurance that \u2018at worst, we can still release this as is\u2019 to be a great motivator\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Haganeiro explained in an X post, they started to code the game\u2019s systems while Lemorion began modelling the maps and assets only one day after they created the concept for the game. \u201cBasically, we were developing by testing as we go, adjusting the game on the fly to make it into a proper game,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260105-690050001.jpg\" alt=\"Meccha Chameleon\" class=\"wp-image-69007\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260105-690050001.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260105-690050001-380x214.jpg 380w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asset reuse was also mentioned as a way to cut costs, as Lemorion also revealed that back-end systems were lifted straight from the studio&#8217;s previous works, such as <strong>Penguin Hotel<\/strong> and <strong>LINK Penguins<\/strong>. When asked conversely what part of the game he put the most time and effort into over the course of development, he explained how the Hide-and-Seek Mansion map took the cake. The entire process of modeling and designing the locale took an entire month out of the game\u2019s two-months dev time. Lemorion added that the last-minute playtests mentioned the lack of variety in playable maps, resulting in the co-developers cranking out three brand-new maps only two weeks away from the game\u2019s release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Much like other multiplayer games that require an online connection, Meccha Chameleon utilizes Epic Online Services (EOS) for matchmaking purposes, allowing the studio <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-viral-indie-hit-meccha-chameleon-sells-3-million-copies-in-a-week-as-creators-reveal-they-spent-nothing-on-advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to host the game without spending a single dime<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The developer concluded that they plan to implement more updates to Meccha Chameleon for the foreseeable future. They also plan on going back to their previous penguin-themed installments, hinting that Penguin Hotel Chapter 3 is in the works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meccha&nbsp;Chameleon is available for Windows (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/4704690\/MECCHA_CHAMELEON\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-developers-marvel-as-self-published-indie-hit-meccha-chameleon-sells-2-million-copies-in-just-five-days\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Japanese developers marvel as self-published indie hit Meccha Chameleon sells 2 million copies in just five days<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The secret behind Meccha Chameleon\u2019s short dev cycle is making the the \u201cbare minimum,\u201d and then building upon it, devs explain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":69006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2","date":"2026-06-30T13:00:10+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mpj2nu6t7f2j","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mpj2nu6t7f2j\",\"cid\":\"bafyreidvn5tkplz472fmec3aqhetjceog3dqdrpbh7npg73b6up32tav3m\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreiacmzulmyjczgn3wlfzn2yrf2pu6gzljzgsarpycdf6tbdusgify4\",\"rev\":\"3mpj2nu6y3n2j\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-69005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Meccha Chameleon developers say the secret behind their 2-month dev cycle is asset reuse and a &quot;make it exist first, perfect it later&quot; 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