Arc System Works CEO Doesn’t Want Guilty Gear and BlazBlue to Compete With Each Other
When it comes to fighting games, Arc System Works is at the top of the food chain. With Guilty Gear Strive, BlazBlue, Dragon Ball FighterZ, DNF Duel, and GranBlue Fantasy Versus, ArcSys is the industry’s most active developer of high-quality fighting games today, and there’s no shortage of fan dream games. I love watching developers work. Arc System Works CEO Minoru Kidooka and his efforts to pursue some of the potential dream games, BlazBlue’s future, and new IP collaboration opportunities at the Arc World Tour Grand Finals. I had a chance to speak.
IGN: I think we spoke at EVO last year, and you said you wanted to be more proactive about pursuing opportunities to work with new IP owners. Is this still an important priority for you? Do you feel like you’ve made any progress in that regard in the last few months?
Mr. Kidooka: I can’t say it’s necessarily a priority at this point, but here’s what I said at Evo about trying to create more IP collaboration games: goal. So, as a goal for ourselves and the company, we want to create something that makes the fighting community happy. So, whether it’s using other IPs or our own games, we’re going to keep moving forward to keep FGC members happy.
For example, previous games were Bandai Namco, CyGames, now Nexon, [we are] I am discussing possibilities with other people. We will continue to push forward so that everyone in the area can enjoy it. So basically that’s the answer to your question, although I obviously can’t go into details at the moment.
IGN: Looking back on two years of Guilty Gear Strive, how do you feel about Strive’s performance and the future of the Guilty Gear series as a whole?
Mr. Kidooka: So, when it comes to Guilty Gear Strive alone, it exceeded all our projected expectations. On top of that, of course, having already completed two seasons, we want to keep the game going and keep going strong. As such, we plan to keep these seasons available. However, when it comes to plans for the next game in the Guilty Gear series, for now, we’re stuck with the season.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done for the game. But once that’s done, they can start thinking about other things.
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IGN: Another thing we talked about at EVO is BlazBlue. You said you have plans, but your number one priority is to expand Strive. With Strive on every major non-Nintendo platform, cross-play implemented, and Season 2 on the way, any updates on your plans for BlazBlue?
Mr. Kidooka: We are very proud of how our community has interacted [BlazBlue]One of the things we’re concerned about, and currently thinking about, is that we don’t want Guilty Gear and BlazBlue to really compete. That’s why we mainly focus on Guilty Gear. Of course, BlazBlue is a community-loved title. The community has put in a lot of effort to get it to where it is today. With that in mind, I hope to touch on the series at some point. But now my main focus is Guilty Gear.
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Thinking about the Guilty Gear series, when we moved to 3D, Xrd and Strive, there was a very strong impact and a very strong reaction from fans. So when we make the next BlazBlue, we want to look at the technology of the time and see how it can have a similarly strong impact on players. The motto of Works is to keep moving forward and keep offering something new, exciting, and impactful to our users. We plan to finally consider it when he unveils his BlazBlue, which is just as powerful of an impact when moving to 3D with Xrd.
IGN: Gear change to DNF Duel. You collaborated with Eating, a much-loved fighting game developer. Can you talk a little bit about that collaboration? Is there anything in the world of DNF Duel or outside of DNF Duel that you would like to continue doing?
Mr. Kidooka: Keep in mind that Arc System Works isn’t really that big of a company. We have about 200 members in our house, but due to the limited numbers, we have limited resources to devote to the game. So by working with Eighting and other companies, we can really bring out the games we put out. Even the Guilty Gear Strive wasn’t 100% home made. To drive it, we collaborated a lot with outside artists and programmers. Well, of course we plan to move on to other titles and other games and work with other developers to help create the amazing games that Arc System Works is known for.
IGN: Finally, I think it’s a dream game for fighting game fans, but it’s a game that people often ask Arc System Works to do. Any thoughts on the possibility of doing a One Piece fighting game?
Mr. Kidooka: As I said before, I would love to work with others and use the resources that FGC has to create fun games that really boost. But One Piece is something to think about. I’m not sure if I’m thinking of One Piece in particular. You can’t say, “Oh yeah, One Piece, yes or no.” I can’t say either way, but it’s neither fixed nor out of the realm of possibility.
you TRUE You should understand that we are a small company. You can’t pick up a project you come across. resources should be considered.
Mitchell Saltzman is IGN’s Editorial Producer.you can find him on twitter @jurassic rabbit
