Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
With Guilty Gear Strive, Daisuke Ishiwateri’s original storyline spanning over two decades came to a pretty satisfying end, but the battle isn’t over, and he still believes the series has more to give with the aid of younger developers. Season 3 is upon us and it’s bringing a mountain of changes alongside the addition of new characters. That said, with the current arc wrapped, many of the leadership shared thoughts on where Guilty Gear Goes from here. In that interview, Ishiwatari shared that he feels that the Guilty Gear series is at a turning point and he wants to support the younger devs as they put their energy into Guilty Gear’s future direction.
Arc System Works posted a Season 2 retrospective interview with many of the current leadership of the Guilty Gear franchise on the Arc System Works channel on August 22, 2023. It was there that Daisuke Ishiwatari shared his thoughts on what’s next and where his role lies in it.
“I feel that Guilty Gear itself has… arrived at a turning point of sorts,” Ishiwatari shared. “Going forward, I’d like to support our creators looking to express a new power or energy within such a flagship title for Arc System Works.”
While experienced and long-time faces of Guilty Gear and Arc System Works had plenty to say during the interview, relative newcomers that had major hands in the development and direction of Strive also shared heavily in the retrospective. Guilty Gear creator Daisuke Ishiwatari and brand manager Takeshi Yamanaka were joined by Strive director Akira Kitano, lead producer Ken Miyauchi, and art director Hidehiko Sakamura. Ishiwatari shared enthusiasm for what the younger developers and leadership have done with Guilty Gear’s battle and visuals and many of them expressed excitement in the changes coming in Season 3.
“Thank you for your continued support of Guilty Gear Strive, as we continue to explore entirely new challenges outside of standard game updates,” Kitano added at the end of the interview.
It’s unknown what “new challenges outside of standard game updates” could mean at this point, but it looks like Arc System Works and Guilty Gear have an interesting future ahead. Stay tuned as we continue to report on the latest updates and news for both.