Arc System Works CEO Talks Pandemic, Free-To-Play, Indie Publishing, And More

Evo 2022 is in the rearview, but the weekend of fighting game action brought plenty of exciting announcements from multiple developers and publishers. One of the biggest names was Arc System Works, with the Guilty Gear Strive tournament seeing more participants than any other competition at the event.

We spoke with Arc System Works's CEO Minoru Kidooka about the fighting game scene, from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the community to the decision to return to Evo despite that same pandemic continuing to linger.

We also touched on the concept of free-to-play fighting games after the success of MultiVersus and the upcoming Project L, as well as the company's publishing wing and what sort of games Arc System Works would want to pursue as it approaches its 35th anniversary in 2023.

This interview was conducted via email and edited for clarity.

Guilty Gear Strive is the largest fighting game at EVO this year, with nearly 2,200 entrants into the weekend-long event. What does this mean for the future of the game, and your plans to support it going forward?

Minoru Kidooka: Despite several delays due to COVID, we were able to launch Guilty Gear Strive last year in 2021. There were a lot of difficulties leading up to the game's release, but we are happy that people all over the world are playing our game. We are incredibly grateful that so many people are entering this year's Evo, which is the first time in 3 years that the event is being held offline.

Guilty Gear Strive has been for sale for a little over a year and has reached a major milestone in time for the start of Season 2. That being said, Guilty Gear Strive is still developing. We will continue to support our player base by taking in their feedback, and by continuing to develop products that exceed their expectations and make them say "Whoa!"

Did you have concerns about attending an event of this scale with COVID persisting, and what made you decide the trip was worth the risk?

Kidooka: I am delighted to be able to participate in Evo for the first time in three years. But, of course, there are concerns about attending. Fighting games are a genre that were originally nurtured by small offline communities in arcades. Today, that community has migrated to online play at home and on social media, but Arc System Works still continues to support the arcades. As such, I think it is very important such a large-scale offline event is held, and should be welcomed.

Arc System Works will continue to support the community by keeping track of the latest COVID guidelines, regardless of the size of the event. And, we would like to revitalize the community by organizing our own esports events such as the Arc World Tour.

Are there any other partnerships you have pursued for a fighting game, or are there any IP out there that interest you that perhaps talks have not yet begun?

Kidooka: Up to this point, we have been working with various partners to create fighting games. This attitude will not change in the future. We are looking forward to working with our partners around the world to make fighting games even more exciting and enjoyable for our players.

The pandemic threw a sizable wrench into the Japanese game development scene. Do you think the industry in that region is beginning to recover, and where do you see Japanese game dev going in the future?

Kidooka: The pandemic has dramatically changed lifestyles since early 2020. Along with that, the style of game development had to change as well. Among Japanese developers, our style was particularly damaged because our development style was "gather together, think together, create a better game through trial and error."

However, we gained a variety of insights over the course of the more-than-two years of the pandemic. Our company, with the aim of "finding a new way to work," recently launched a hybrid work-from-home/work-from-office system. We believe that we will grow better by combining the best of Japanese game-making, with Western style.

ASW recently published Ground Divers!, an indie strategy title. How important to you is using ASW's publishing power to foster the indie development scene, both for the scene and for the company itself?

Kidooka: Arc System Works has developed and released various "indie-like titles" on our own. We've also published titles developed by various partner companies. Aside from Guilty Gear and our other fighting games, we are always aiming to bring in new players by offering new ideas and new ways to play.

Arc System Works is not a large company. With that in mind, we hope to grow through cooperation and competition with major game publishers and talented indie developers alike.

As many players see ASW as a fighting game developer, do you plan to use your publishing wing on a more diversified portfolio, or would an indie fighting title interest you as well?

Kidooka: Arc System Works will celebrate its 35th anniversary next year in 2023. While making use of the technology and expertise we have accumulated over the past 35 years, we will develop better quality fighting games by sharing our knowledge with our partners as needed. We have a track record of selling fighting games made by other developers, and we hope to continue to work with IP holders and development partners in various ways to build excitement for fighting games.

Besides Guilty Gear, BlazBlue and the other fighting games we are working on and developing with our partners, we are also building franchises for IP such as River City Ransom and Double Dragon. We will continue to pursue new forms of entertainment, not just from fighting games, but also with our three development studios in Japan and our development partners around the world to create new IP.

Finally, with the conversation of fighting games adopting the free-to-play model strengthening thanks to games like MultiVersus and Project L, would ASW ever consider moving to that model for one of its games? What is your opinion on free-to-play in general?

Kidooka: Arc System Works is constantly considering new business and play models and discussing them internally. As such, we are exploring various ways that we can work on our own or together with our partners. But, since Arc System Works is not a big company, it can be quite difficult to tackle a variety of projects. That being said, we want to continue to take advantage of our 35 years of accumulated knowledge and continue to meet the challenge of contemporary trends and player demands.