{"id":73563,"date":"2026-10-08T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=73563"},"modified":"2026-10-08T16:28:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:28:39","slug":"the-hundred-line-director-says-a-larger-studio-would-force-his-team-to-take-on-projects-they-dont-want-just-to-stay-afloat-intends-to-stay-small-and-outsource","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/the-hundred-line-director-says-a-larger-studio-would-force-his-team-to-take-on-projects-they-dont-want-just-to-stay-afloat-intends-to-stay-small-and-outsource\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hundred Line director says a larger studio would force his team to take on projects they don\u2019t want just to stay afloat, intends to stay small and outsource"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Danganronpa<\/strong> and <strong>The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy<\/strong> director Kazutaka Kodaka and composer Masafumi Takada participated in a discussion panel during The Tenth Mosaic, a video game-centered event held at the Institut fran\u00e7ais du Japon in Tokyo last month. As reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamespark.jp\/article\/2026\/10\/06\/173236.html\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.gamespark.jp\/article\/2026\/10\/06\/173236.html\">Game*Spark<\/a>, during the session, Kodaka talked about his creative process at Too Kyo Games, and the reason why his new studio doesn\u2019t make games fully in-house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kodaka left Spike Chunsoft alongside some of his other peers to establish Too Kyo Games in 2017. But while the studio is home to only 10 employees including Kodaka himself, their approach to game development is not indie. For The Hundred Line, the company\u2019s first original IP, Too Kyo Games partnered with Media.Vision as the developer (particularly when it comes to the <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/what-will-it-take-for-srpgs-to-leave-the-hardcore-gamer-niche-we-talk-to-the-hundred-line-and-persona-5-tactica-developer-about-the-genres-potential\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SRPG gameplay<\/a>), while the subsequent visual novel Shuten Order was developed by Neilo, with Too Kyo Games handling planning and scenario writing.<\/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=\"The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-\uff5cEnglish Story Trailer\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jLjz8umrD1E?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 class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commenting on this approach, Kodaka said, \u201cIf we tried handling development ourselves, the team would end up growing to as many as 50 people. That would mean we\u2019d be forced to work nonstop and even take on projects we don\u2019t personally agree with.\u201d In other words, Kodaka thinks that having a larger team to support would also result in his company having to take up projects other than the ones they truly want to make, just to keep the whole organization afloat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Therefore, Kodaka\u2019s current approach to game creation revolves mainly around coming up with the characters and the story, while the actual development is outsourced to other companies. <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/what-will-it-take-for-srpgs-to-leave-the-hardcore-gamer-niche-we-talk-to-the-hundred-line-and-persona-5-tactica-developer-about-the-genres-potential\/\"><\/a>\u201cI make things I like with other people\u2019s money,\u201d Kodaka joked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But while Too Kyo Games\u2019 core team has been kept at a relatively small scale, 2025\u2019s The Hundred Line ended up spiraling into a massive gamble for the company. During the talk session, Kodaka also revealed that they invested about 500 million yen (roughly $3.16 million USD) of initial capital for developing the new IP, while the final cost ended up exceeding 1 billion yen (roughly $6.32 million USD). \u201cSince a team of 10 people made it, this means we invested about 100 million yen per person,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Related articles: <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/interview-the-hundred-line-last-defense-academys-devs-needed-players-to-think-they-were-completely-out-of-their-minds-to-compete-in-the-game-market\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Interview: The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy\u2019s devs needed players to think they were \u201ccompletely out of their minds\u201d to compete in the game market\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/the-hundred-line-last-defense-academys-script-is-long-enough-to-print-60-paperback-novels-kodaka-reveals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy\u2019s script is long enough to print 60 paperback novels, Kodaka reveals<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy director Kazutaka Kodaka talked about his approach to game development with Too Kyo Games. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":51498,"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":"2026-10-08T14:00:10+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mxemn7lrkr2h","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:uzrrhkfyjrfdsynj2voztcf2\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mxemn7lrkr2h\",\"cid\":\"bafyreiaax266rwvs6e4joxoep4cwjgxpmcygqozf5xib5zuvhi7bfj54wi\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreiesryauutz5helwsrlpihkmpexjo5vohu33yhvf24ilemabxy36hi\",\"rev\":\"3mxemn7lxgb2h\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-73563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - 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