Game Developer in the World of Anime

For this year's Gamescom Direct, Ichin didn't host a livestream himself. But Bilibili held the rebroadcast rights and had brought in a bunch of popular game streamers for simultaneous coverage—so his presence wasn't really needed.

In every livestream room where viewers were tuned in for the Direct, the moment that logo lit up on screen, streamers and gamers alike burst into excitement.

After all, ever since Hollow Knight released last year, Ichin had been keeping things tightly under wraps—almost a full year without revealing anything useful. Aside from a few recent behind-the-scenes photos of voice actors, he'd shared practically nothing.

On screen, after a smooth cutscene played, the protagonist—dressed entirely in black—smashed through a window from what looked like a casino, only to be caught in a flood of blinding spotlights.

Was he getting captured?

What kind of game was this supposed to be?

Before the audience could come to any conclusions, the visual style suddenly shifted. Accompanied by a striking musical cue, the footage transitioned into an aesthetic reminiscent of old-school film reels.

One by one, the game's lead characters appeared on screen, intercut with snippets of in-game footage that gave viewers a clearer idea of what to expect.

Persona

It had a kind of slice-of-life vibe to it... and the protagonist was a student!

> Could this be one of those "high schooler saves the world" stories?

> My guess? Yeah.

As discussions raged online, the PV approached its end. The Persona title appeared again, along with a release date—summer of next year.

But that wasn't the end.

After the screen faded to black, the visuals suddenly resumed, transitioning into a more intense animation sequence. The protagonist's face was streaked with blood, his eyes glowing gold, and a blue flame engulfed his body.

And with that dramatic final shot, the PV came to a close—leaving everyone stunned.

But the reveal wasn't over yet. Following the trailer, Ichin himself appeared on screen.

Everyone at the studio turned to look at Ichin in surprise.

He shrugged with a smile. "Nintendo invited me to record a short video. Since it's the first time the game is being revealed, I had to do a quick intro."

On screen, Ichin began speaking in Chinese, with subtitles provided in Chinese, Japanese, and English.

"Hello everyone, I'm Ichin, the producer of Persona. What you just saw is our studio's latest game. This is a role-playing game where players will take on the role of the protagonist, who transfers to a new school due to certain circumstances. There, through a series of events, you'll meet companions and embark on a variety of adventures."

As Ichin narrated, the footage continued showing scenes from the game.

"The gameplay is broadly divided into two parts. One is the real-world side, where players will engage in various activities to improve personal stats, interact with companions, and complete side quests to strengthen bonds with them. The other part takes place in an alternate world, where you'll battle enemies and progress through the main story. Combat is turn-based. While we've kept the traditional turn-based system, we've made many adjustments to make the battles faster-paced and more exciting. We'll be releasing a series of videos with more detailed introductions soon—please stay tuned. The game is scheduled for release next summer, and depending on our development progress, we'll confirm the exact date at a later time. Thank you all."

And with that, the Persona reveal officially came to an end.

Immediately after it, Nintendo's next first-party titleSplatoon 3—began its PV.

Ichin glanced at the screen for a moment, then pulled out his phone and logged into Bilibili. The Chinese PV for Persona, which had been scheduled to publish at that moment, was now live—and already had hundreds of viewers watching.

After thinking it over, Ichin figured he might as well go all in. He got up, walked over to a nearby computer, logged into Bilibili, and posted the prepared character portraits of the main cast—protagonist, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana.

As for the rest of the main crew, of course, they'd be released gradually along with future PVs.

Beneath the video, discussions about the new game gradually picked up.

Apart from a few people rushing to grab top comments, most were debating the game's style.

> "Turn-based combat, huh? Curious what kind of changes they've made. I never really liked the old-school kind of turn-based systems."

There were quite a few comments like this, and Ichin had expected as much. After all, no game could appeal to everyone. All he could do was try to make something that would appeal to as many people as possible.

> "You guys are all focused on the combat system, but did you not notice the visual style and the UI? Now I finally get what they meant by 'cool as hell'!"

> "Exactly! The UI looks awesome!"

> "Yeah, the UI is nice, but I wonder how the story will be. It is an RPG, after all…"

When Ichin saw people starting to question the game's story, he walked back over to Utaha and showed her the comments on his phone.

"Some people are worried about the story. I haven't revealed the writer yet… Should I leak your name?"

Utaha smiled as she looked over the comments. "Sure, why not? Though I wonder if players will actually be convinced."

"They probably will. The Metronome in Love's anime already aired, and the Chinese edition of your novel is available on Bilibili too. There's been a fair amount of promotion—it's got decent popularity."

As he spoke, Ichin typed up a response under the video and pinned it at the top, addressing the concerns about the story.

> "You don't need to worry about the game's story. The entire game world was constructed by me, and I also drafted the main plot outline. The actual story content was written by Kasumi Utako-sensei, with me providing support. If you're unfamiliar with her, check out the anime The Metronome in Love that just aired—produced by Kyoto Animation. Kasumi Utako-sensei is the author of the original novel. Her writing is solid, so rest assured."

That pinned comment was immediately seen by everyone, and the discussion quickly lit up.

> "Wait, The Metronome in Love's author? So does that mean this game has romance elements?"

> "From what I know, Kasumi Utako's only interaction with KyoAni was due to the anime adaptation. Now she's involved in game development? How did you even recruit her?"

> "Kasumi Utako's a woman, right? Did you use your charms on her?"

> "Maybe she just wanted to rob the cradle and decided to join the project!"

> "Hold up, doesn't the boss already have a girlfriend?"

As the comments started going way off-topic, Ichin's expression became a little stiff—especially with Utaha watching over his shoulder.

Her expression turned a little... complicated. She looked at Ichin and said, "Ichin, now that I think about it, I am a little older than you, aren't I? How about calling me 'big sis'?"

"In your dreams. It's only like a month's difference!"

Ichin rolled his eyes at her, then quickly typed another comment:

> "Don't start spreading nonsense. The boss lady is sitting right next to me—I don't want to end up kneeling on a keyboard!"

And that just led to even more chaos in the comments.

At this rate, it was clear: having a normal discussion now was absolutely impossible.

...

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