Thanks to some inquisitive people over at Siliconera there are a few less mysteries surrounding CyberConnect2’s first venture into the mobile gaming market. Hiroshi Matsuyama, the cosplay enthusiast CEO of CyberConnect2, was asked a few questions regarding Guilty Dragon at an event prior to this year’s Tokyo Game Show. While dressed in a Sage Naruto ensemble, Matsuyama revealed some details surrounding the development of the game saying:
“We are producing a game called Guilty Dragon for smartphones and it will be released soon in Japan. We have about 200 people on our staff so we are able to work on a lot of titles.”
“The pro about a smartphone app is that you can play it wherever you want. Therefore, it is a very different approach in development than I’ve had experience with. By the way, the engine I’m using is Unity.”
While knowing the inner workings of this new frontier for CC2 is certainly interesting, Matsuyama had even more intriguing things to say regarding Guilty Dragon’s future:
“After we release in Japan we will release Guilty Dragon in America and Europe.”
This is the first mention of a western release. How do you like that?
While there is no clear plot connection to CyberConnect2’s prior game series .hack, Guilty Dragon’s copyright notes show that it is a .hack Conglomerate property. Those familiar with the history and lore of .hack will also note that the full title of the game, Guilty Dragon: The Sin Dragon and the Eight Curses, has few things in common with the simulated MMO; the Sin Dragon being an enemy in the .hack series as well as the eight curses being curiously close to the Eight Phases of the Cursed Wave. Usage of the term “fragment” is also a hat tip to .hack’s past.
All in all it is just good to know that CyberConnect2 and Namco Bandai haven’t forgotten about their fans in the West, especially in light of the recent lack of other .hack games noticeably not leaving Japanese shores (.hack//LINK for PSP and .hack//VERSUS included on the Blu-ray version of .hack//THE MOVIE). If you are new to this whole Guilty Dragon thing, take a minute to enjoy the newest trailer just released a little over a week ago.
Guilty Dragon: The Sin Dragon and the Eight Curses is coming soon to iOS and Google Play in Japan with a planned release in Europe and North America afterwards.
