The Journey to Another Escape from Zero
For a little while, it didn’t appear the Zero Escape series would receive closure. But now that it’s officially announced, I used this post to go over the long journey the producers and the franchise’s fans had to venture through to get it green lit.
Despite its publisher being impressed with how 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors sold (albeit as simply Chunsoft, prior to their merger with Spike), Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward’s Japanese sales were apparently less than impressive, despite Aksys being impressed with them. From there, it was revealed that Spike Chunsoft is the kind of Japanese company that’s far more concerned with how software sells in their home country, compared to how they sell in the west.
That attitude is more typical than many think, but it was unfortunate to see this from a publisher who typically has good relations with western localization companies. This supposed fate for the franchise was also tragic because the third game doesn’t resolve all the plot threads it establishes, clearly setting up another installment. This became even bleaker upon learning that director and scenario writer Kotaro Uchikoshi revealed he wasn’t actively working on the third game, and was forced to pursue other interests. There could be a day when his schedule would be free again, allowing him to return to Zero Escape, who knew when that would happen.
If you’re curious: those other projects included contributing a scenario to semi-sequel Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram and the gratuitously fanservice-laden anime Punchline. The latter is also receiving an adventure game adaption, where Uchikoshi is also contributing as scenario writer. All of this was enough to make some Zero Escape fans weep.
But those weeps became cries of joy when incessant teasing about another installment began. Uchikoshi knew it would take some effort on his part to convince Spike Chunsoft to green light Zero Escape 3, and after fan campaign “Operation Bluebird” garnered enough support, he launched his own initiative starting with an English Twitter account. There, he asked fans to continue pledging their support for the franchise’s future. You could tell he wanted to work on this game, but there was little he could do to make that a reality on his own.
After a little while, a mysterious teaser site appeared on Aksys website (though the stream is archived there now). Despite its vague hints, some savvy internet sleuths figured out what it was. Despite the answer being mostly obvious, they were determined to stretch this teasing period for nearly four months. It was long enough that some among us forgot they even launched a teaser site, and I’m not just talking about me. Since we already knew the answer, the big question involved which platforms it could hit, and whether they’d take the Shenmue III route and run a Kickstarter using the franchise’s name.
Though it’s reveal understandably skipped E3, since it would have been buried in news about big-budget titles, Aksys revealed the project during the stream of their panel on Anime Expo’s second day. A pity some severe technical issues prevented most online from seeing it as it happened, but there was much rejoicing as the curtain was pulled back on the title tentatively known as Zero Escape 3. It’s due for release in summer 2016, with the eventual press release confirming a 3DS and Vita release. And no, there’s no Kickstarter. It turns out Uchikoshi can be pretty convincing.
That it was announced for a western release first, unlike the previous titles, suggests that Aksys has a strong hand in its development. It’s unusual, especially for a visual novel not available on PC, but it makes sense considering the games sold far better outside Japan. Though it’s possible Aksys is contributing funding, we’ll have to see which company has more creative input.
Many questions surround Zero Escape 3 at the moment, but Aksys and Uchikoshi aren’t answering many of them at Anime Expo. If they’re serious about that summer 2016 timeframe, we shouldn’t have to wait long before seeing more information. Heck, maybe it will come along with the announcement of the Japanese version from Spike Chunsoft, with fresh new info from the pages of Famitsu magazine. In the meantime, if you’ve yet to experience 999 or VLR, now’s your chance before the internet ruins them for you.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
