The following is a brief summary of a recent interview conducted by Dengeki Online with MAGES.’ Makoto Asada. Asada shares a number of insights related to the company’s future, notably including plans for new SciADV series entries, new ports and remakes of the Infinity series of visual novels, and plans to speed up the company’s localization process.
New Science Adventure entries are coming
- Asada reports that Science Adventure series planner Chiyomaru Shikura has shared with him, among other things, his ideas for the series’ next main entry. According to Asada, this entry will feature new subject matter that differs slightly as compared to its predecessors.
- The title in question will soon enter its early stages of development, and Asada expects it won’t be long until it’s formally unveiled. He remarks, in good humor, that it would be nice if it were completed within the next two-and-a-half years. (See below for the reasoning behind this timespan.)
- On that note, Asada has himself been planning out a Science Adventure series spinoff game. He’s currently working with MAGES.’ games division to assemble relevant materials to present to Shikura—and if Shikura gives the project the green light, it will presumably enter production.
What’s changed now that Shikura has stepped down?
- Asada discusses the fact that there was initially some confusion within the company, among partner companies, and among fans regarding Shikura’s decision to step down as MAGES.’ chairman and representative director. He reiterates, however, that Shikura is remaining with MAGES. as an executive producer; in fact, this move had been planned out far in advance.
- Previously, Shikura was juggling multiple roles: his responsibilities toward the management of the company, his work as a creative, and much more. In his new position, however, Shikura now has the capacity to put the bulk of his focus toward his creative endeavors—i.e., toward releasing more games, anime, and other projects for the world to enjoy—while leaving company management needs to other capable hands.
- Shikura’s creative work is one of MAGES.’ driving forces, Asada says—hence, the company’s interest in his being able to focus his efforts toward it.
- Not much has changed at MAGES., even in light of Shikura’s stepping down. While Asada concedes that opportunities to meet face-to-face with Shikura have become more infrequent, he remarks that MAGES.’ employees had already been operating remotely prior to Shikura’s decision—meaning those face-to-face meetings had already been relatively rare to begin with. Asada says that, prior to January, he’d only been meeting with Shikura once a month, if that.
- “The only real change I think is notable is that we don’t see him at board meetings anymore,” Asada explains.
- Asada highlights Anonymous;Code as the most demanding undertaking he’d participated in while Shikura was still chairman. The project spanned seven years of development, during which he simultaneously needed to manage other MAGES. projects (e.g., his work as the YU-NO remake’s producer). Moreover, there was a constant need to revise the game to accommodate real-world developments—a natural consequence of the lengthy production period—to the point where the finalized story ended up differing vastly from the original vision.
- Now that Shikura has the capacity to focus on his work as a creative without management concerns weighing him down, the company hopes to be able to release a new Science Adventure title every 2–2.5 years.
- Asada: “This is where Shikura chimed in to say, ‘And if we can’t manage to get a game out on time from here on, well… I won’t be able to pin the blame on being tied up with management anymore, haha.’”
- At the very least, Asada doesn’t think it’s likely that future SciADV titles will require, like Anonymous;Code, absurdly long development periods. The company is transitioning to a development system that will allow for even closer developer collaboration than before, which Asada believes will pave the way for consistent releases every two years or so.
MAGES.’ upcoming endeavors
- MAGES. intends to continue producing visual novels, as is their norm. In fact, the company plans to release a brand new entry in the Corpse Party series this summer.
- “We’ve been challenging ourselves to create a visual novel that’s very different compared to anything that’s come before it[…] with an art direction so drastically distinct from Corpse Party’s usual pixel-art style, players will be left thinking, ‘Wow, is this really a MAGES. game?!’”
- This game will notably see a simultaneous worldwide release on Steam and other platforms.
- On worldwide releases in general, Asada remarks that localizations can be challenging due to the sheer volume of text found in each of their visual novels. However, MAGES. has plans to mitigate the issue of long localization times. In the future, the company will seek to hasten script completion deadlines on the Japanese end; and, “the very instant the scripts are done on our side, we’ll begin the localization process.”
- Asada announces that MAGES. plans to port and remake the renowned Infinity series. This project is in its initial stages, with involved staff currently “rummaging through old resources and the like.”
- Editor’s note: Infinity is a series of sci-fi visual novels kickstarted by the now-defunct developer KID. KID and Infinity are often viewed as the informal predecessors to MAGES. and the Science Adventure series respectively: after its bankruptcy, some KID staff involved with Infinity (e.g., Chiyomaru Shikura, Takeshi Abo) went on to found and/or staff MAGES.; later, MAGES.’ Science Adventure series would go on to reimagine and build upon many themes and concepts introduced by Infinity; finally, MAGES. themselves would informally continue the Infinity series with Dunamis15 and its sequel, Disorder6 (as confirmed by Shikura last year, these titles fall under the Infinity umbrella).
- Editor’s note: Asada, in reference to the series, notes that it is comprised of “Never7, Ever17, and so on.” We can likely concretely assume that the former two titles will be included in the scope of the port/remake project, but it is currently unclear if Remember11, 12Riven, and other Infinity entries will also be ported and/or remade. At any rate, Asada’s wording is not restrictive; the use of “and so on” leaves the door open for the other entries to be included.
- Asada calls attention to the fact that MAGES. has previously remade Ever17—released in 2011 for the Xbox 360, the original remake featured 3D character models instead of the original 2D sprites, as well as various story adjustments. Asada concedes that reception at the time was generally unfavorable toward the 3D models, and with this feedback in mind, the team intends to refine their approach with the new release.
- On the other hand, Asada also notes that feedback for the Xbox remake’s adjusted story script was generally favorable; the team will take this feedback into account for upcoming release.
- More details, as well as an formal announcement, will be shared at a later date.
Other tidbits
- A port of the original, adults-only release of YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World for Windows 10 and 11 is planned. MAGES. themselves will not be directly involved in this release, as they do not deal in adults-only games, but Asada, in a supervising director-esque role, will be working with FANZA to make this release a reality.
- This port is expected to launch on March 31, 2023. Preorders are currently available. (note: NSFW content on page).
We will strive to keep you updated as further information arises on these and other MAGES. projects.
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