Cognition Dissemination: Level 5 Has a Problem with Delays

Level 5 has done a good job making a name for themselves in a little more than the last decade. They started out as a developer that handled games for other publishers, particularly Sony, working on franchises like Dark Cloud and White Knight Chronicles (the PSP game aside), and handling Rogue Galaxy. (You wouldn’t believe the number of people who still think those are Level 5’s franchises.) They also developed Dragon Quest VIII and IX for Square Enix. After those successes, they became an independent developer to create their own properties. Over time, they’ve established franchises like the Layton games, Inazuma Elven series, and recently the Yo-Kai Watch series.

Not to say they haven’t run into problems along the way, as they’ve tried to establish several franchises that didn’t take off. The Little Battlers only found limited appeal among the younger audience, despite an attempt at establishing it as a hit worldwide. The Snack World fared even worse with its game and animated series, to the point that Level 5 may not even bother trying to release it outside Japan. They also had (and still have) an issue with releasing so many installments in their successful franchises so quickly that the audience burns out on them, with the worst example of this thus far being the Layton series.

Now, they have another problem: Delays. Level 5 seemed a little lost following the 3DS’ heyday, where several of their games sold well — particularly the Yo-Kai Watch series. After spending a little time focusing on appealing to the mobile audience, to limited success, they’ve started developing most of their games for Nintendo Switch. But they’re running into problems with getting games out on time.

Their problems actually started with Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom on PlayStation 4, originally planned for release at the end of 2017 before being pushed back until January 2018, and delayed again until March 2018. This didn’t seem abnormal at the time, since games are often frequently delayed, and some titles run into small-but-unfortunate issues. But the overall game still felt rushed in the end, especially with the lack of voice acting and cutscene direction for some important scenes. But the delays this game suffered were nothing compared to their upcoming projects.

I lost count of how many times Inazuma Eleven Ares has been delayed before starting this post. The game and anime adaptation were originally announced in July 2016, but the game’s platforms weren’t confirmed until October 2017 (PS4, Switch, and mobile), where it was initially confirmed for a summer 2018 release in Japan. It was subsequently delayed until fall, and again until sometime in the winter. Now, CEO Akihiro Hino has confirmed that it’s been delayed again until sometime past May 2019. Hino also confirmed how the game was initially being solely developed by their internal studios, but a currently-unknown third-party was brought in to help with its production. But even that developer doesn’t have enough staff to handle the game. This explains the vaguer release timeframe too

Other games haven’t fared well either. Yo-Kai Watch 4 is in development for Nintendo Switch, a game whose visuals could match the tech video shown over seven years ago. This game was originally confirmed for a winter release, but it was clear it wouldn’t make that given the struggling performance in the Tokyo Game Show demo (this was mostly cleared up for the official video). So, it was no surprise to see this pushed back until the spring. It’s been nearly three months since we’ve heard anything about the game, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if it slipped again; but hopefully it doesn’t.

(I probably just jinxed it, didn’t I?)

Megaton Musashi has also had a rocky development, though this one is more understandable. It was originally planned for 3DS and “PlayStation hardware” when it was announced in 2016, but its current platforms are unknown. It recently resurfaced, but it would be a surprise if its development was going smoothly given what’s happened to the above titles.

Hino discussed Level 5’s development issues with the explanation for Inazuma Eleven Ares’ delays above. But, well, just look at how many projects they’re working on at a time. Level 5 is developing at least three HD projects, and there’s no current way to tell whether the revived version of Ushiro has entered development yet. This is quite a bit for a company with around 300 staffers to be working on at a time in the HD age, with projects that require an increased amount of development time and resources. Now that titles like Ni no Kuni II and The Snack World are available, things should be calming down a little. The idea of developing multiple projects like this in a nigh-simultaneous manner perhaps sounded good on the surface, but this isn’t the best idea going forward.

Level 5 won’t be in a good position unless these games sell well, and there’s potential for them to make sequels to them with the same resources. They’re also obtaining the necessary experience to develop these games more efficiently in the future, which should help. If they aren’t successful, they could find themselves being a development partner again in no time.