gosokkyu

エンド

  • 戦う人間発電所

owatte shimatta


Puyo Puyo series producer Mizuki Hosoyamada and director Harumasa Nakajima spoke to 4gamer about Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop, the new game released exclusively for Apple Arcade—it's not an especially deep interview but there are a couple points worth noting, so lemme run it down:


  • on the making of Puzzle Pop: quite straightforward: Sega and Apple have a close relationship and their previous Apple Arcade games have gone over well; Puyo Tetris did well globally, and there's been a general headwind for Japanese IP finding success overseas, so they decided to bring Puyo to Apple Arcade. Apple had been talking to them about doing something with Puyo for quite a while, apparently.

  • on why they went with a classic game system: they tossed around ideas for new twists on the game system or other novel approaches, including social games or something completely original, but given that they're aiming for this game to reach an audience of players who've never touched Puyo Puyo before, Nakajima wanted their first experience to be the authentic article. Even so, despite being an orthodox game, they've never released one of these on mobile before, and their ambitions are more in terms of pushing the volume/content rather than the core format (to the point where Hosoyamada as producer felt Nakajima was maybe going overboard).

  • on why they specifically targeted Apple Arcade: they mainly took this route as partnering with Apple was the most effective means of reaching the most players globally; they weighed up various means of release but determined Japanese-style f2p conventions might not fly overseas, or that it was difficult to gauge whether a paid app stood any chance of succeeding, so they saw releasing via subscription service as the optimal way to deliver the game and also ensure continuous updates. They still feel like they need to build the brand overseas, and the hope is that the Apple Arcade release will reach people who might eventually become fans. (Hosoyamada knows there are people who want a port but it's currently only planned for release on Apple Arcade, and they'll reflect on peoples' responses moving forward... nothing super meaningful, I don't think.) They also mention that there seem to be quite a lot of people, both outside and within Japan, who have an Apple One sub but have never touched Apple Arcade, so they also hope to attract those people.

  • on the game's content: they emphasise the adventure mode, the various rules and the new photo mode; they also mention the daily/weekly missions and the secret missions with hidden conditions, and how all the content and unlockables, including future updates, will be completely free.

  • on how Puzzle Pop fits into their esports plans: Hosoyamada's not making any specific commitments with regards to this particular game, but does mention how they'll have their own guidelines for streaming, events, etc and how the Puyo Camp portal's already set up to make it easy to get official authorisation for community events and so on. As far as official tournaments go, again, they're making no promises, but they do think it could happen if and when some of the planned updates are released... (my guess is they're going to give Pair Puyo another shot...?)

  • on plans for a new game on other platforms: Hosoyamada can't officially comment, but basically implies something's happening; they also give the boilerplate "the better Puzzle Pop does, the better the prospects for the future, so give us your honest feedback", etc etc

  • on future Puzzle Pop updates: Nakajima's not satisfied with it as of right now and feels that the whole point of releasing it via sub was to ensure future improvements, so they personally want to get it to a point where people look back and find it hard to believe how it was at launch. Hosoyamada mentions that Puyo Puyo eSports/Champions (which Nakajima directed, incidentally) was supposed to stop getting updates after the retail release but the team kept working on it anyway, including adding characters without approval... as for this game, they have plans for various updates, but they'll depend on the success of the game and the status of the dev team. (They also mention how they often get scolded by their bosses for going overboard, but Nakajima doesn't seem fazed and seems determined to go all-out.)

  • closing remarks: Nakajima's putting their all into it, so they hope people dig it; they also hope the practice-anywhere nature of the release might lead to new players getting hooked and shaking up the competitive scene. Hosoyamada hopes it spreads to as many people in as many places as possible, and reminds people that Apple Arcade has a free trial; they conclude with "I know people have all sorts of expectations, so all I can say is "I'll do my best"


You must log in to comment.

in reply to @gosokkyu's post:

They also mention that there seem to be quite a lot of people, both outside and within Japan, who have an Apple One sub but have never touched Apple Arcade, so they also hope to attract those people.

That's... surprisingly honest.