An interview with Series Producer Yuya Kimura on the past and future of PSO2 NEW GENESIS, as the game marks its second anniversary

※日本語の原文記事はこちら

The online RPG PSO2 NEW GENESIS (hereinafter NGS) (PC / PS4 / Switch) celebrates its second anniversary on June 9, 2023. Ahead of this, a major update, NGS ver.2, which claims to be an “ultra evolution," is scheduled to be released on June 7.


　This update will include the Creative Space, a new character display feature called Cel Shading, and other new features, as well as major balance adjustments for each class.
　The Creative Space is a plot of land for each player where they can modify the terrain, construct buildings with Build Parts, and place Furnishings. The ability to invite other players, etc. gives it a similar feel to the Personal Quarters in PSO2 Blocks, but the content has been greatly enhanced.

　Up to now, updates to NGS have been introduced on the official monthly NGS Headline program, but in April, series producer Yuya Kimura released a video message regarding updates and future developments. Some of the players were surprised to see a member of the development team appearing for the first time in quite a while.

　In this article, we interview Yuya Kimura, the series producer who made an appearance on the program. We spoke with them about the past and future of NGS, now approaching its third year.

Why the developers, who have not spoken directly to the public since the release of NGS, decided to appear in the official program in April

4Gamer:
　Thank you for coming today. It has been a very long time since I’ve done a direct interview with you and the other developers. Since the release of NGS, the development team has not been speaking directly to the public. Is there a reason for that?

Yuya Kimura, series producer

Mr. Yuya Kimura ("Mr. Kimura"):
　I did media appearances as the series director of PSO2 up until about five years ago.

　However, the game was not in the best state at the time, and I myself was not communicating well with the players about the situation, so I decided to stop speaking directly to the public, fearing that doing so would have a negative impact on the title. Since the launch of NGS, other members of the development team have also refrained from making public appearances.


4Gamer:
　I think some players hoped you would appear in Headline, etc.

Mr. Kimura:
　There were many players who were supportive of me, but those players lost motivation when they saw other players who hated me, so there was some negative impact... I’m open to criticism, but I want players to get along with each other.

4Gamer:
　Is it for the same reason that you’ve been avoiding media appearances since NGS launched?

Mr. Kimura:
　From NGS, as the series producer, I’ll continue to serve as the representative for the development team. I probably should have shown my face from the start, but I wanted to see how things were going with PSO2. In addition, NGS did not get off to a good start, and since I was focusing on development and operational improvements, I simply did not have the time to engage with the media.

4Gamer:
　You appeared in a video message on NGS Headline the other day. What was your reason for deciding to make an appearance?

Mr. Kimura:
　There were the problems I mentioned earlier, but there were also many players who came in after NGS, or who started playing with the global version that launched three years ago, and are unaware of these circumstances. So we’ve received a lot of comments wanting us to put a face to the developers.
　Since we had released the volume of content we had originally planned and managed to accommodate some of the initial requests from players, we decided that it would be a good idea for me to directly communicate in preparation for a new start with ver.2. Of course, as a team, we had our doubts, but this was the result of what we collectively decided to do.


4Gamer:
　It definitely seemed like good timing. I think there was a good vibe around Headline.

Mr. Kimura:
　I received a warmer welcome than I had expected. I was relieved to hear comments like, "Welcome back," and "I'm glad you’re doing well.”

4Gamer:
　Will other developers make appearances in the future?

Mr. Kimura:
　This is a pilot project, including this interview, and to be honest, nothing has been decided yet. Our basic policy is for developers to concentrate on content development and game service operations. However, I think it is important to have an opportunity to talk directly when needed.

4Gamer:
　Will Mr. Hiro Arai continue to host Headline?

Mr. Kimura:
　Yes. Hiro Arai is very popular, and we hope that he will continue to serve as a bridge between the development & operations team and the players. However, I may also deliver messages at key points.

NGS celebrates its second anniversary on June 9, 2023

Differences between the first and second years

4Gamer:
　NGS will soon celebrate its second anniversary. Are there any differences in how you felt about the first and second years?

Mr. Kimura:
　We felt that the Retem Region, which was released six months after the official launch of the game, did not have enough content to meet the expectations of the players and that it did not fully satisfy them.
　For that reason, to make sure that the Kvaris Region, which released around the first anniversary of NGS, had more content than Retem, we added more gameplay elements to the Field, etc. Thanks to these efforts, we received feedback like, “This was better than Retem," but at the same time, we received a lot of reactions saying it was the same kind of update as Retem.

4Gamer:
　The atmosphere of each region is very different, but after advancing through the story, there is little change in the content of gameplay, such as leveling up in the Combat Sectors and taking on Urgent Quests.

Mr. Kimura:
　Since there is a story unfolding, the minimum requirement was that we release all the regions up to Stia. However, we have been thinking over the past year that it’s not good to just keep going as we have been.

　We’ve also been thinking about what kind of content we should provide to players and how often we should release it. In the first year, there were no dedicated quests for seasonal events, and we were in a bit of a rut.

4Gamer:
　Recently, you’ve been making Limited-time Quests, like in PSO2.

Mr. Kimura:
　We’re releasing multiple Limited-time Quests per season so that players can have a steady trickle of new content. We vary the content of these quests from simply killing all enemies to using new gameplay mechanics, experimenting to see what players enjoy.


4Gamer:
　It really does feel like you’re trying lots of new things.

Mr. Kimura:
　Even gameplay like Cannonball Rumble, which was fresh at first, gets boring after a while. Also, even if we decide to make improvements or course corrections based on the response after release, it can sometimes take up to half a year before they are reflected in future content, which is very frustrating.
　Also, I sometimes think that it is better to provide some kind of content, even on a small scale, even if it gets boring quickly, than to have a period of time where nothing at all is released. Anyway, there was a lot to think about.


4Gamer:
　Has the development structure changed over the past two years?

Mr. Kimura:
　First of all, a major change took place shortly before the launch of NGS. The state of emergency declared after the Coronavirus pandemic forced us to have the entire team work from home. We managed to establish a system where we could keep running PSO2 while also developing NGS, but we were not accustomed to developing remotely, and we were unable to proceed according to schedule.

4Gamer:
　It is not so much that you made changes, but rather that you were forced to make changes.

Mr. Kimura:
　In 2021, our goal was to launch NGS as soon as possible. The major updates for PSO2 had already been completed and there were no new elements for that game, so the only way to continue the game was in the form of NGS anyway.
　However, for the reasons mentioned earlier, we were not able to proceed with development as we had hoped, which caused some inconvenience for players.

4Gamer:
　Even after the game was launched, updates were a bit slow, right?

Mr. Kimura:
　That was partly because it took time to get used to our new development system, but also because we were not able to utilize the know-how we had gained from PSO2 as much as we had hoped for the new graphics and content style of NGS.
　However, around the time we released Retem, we were gradually getting accustomed to developing both remotely and for NGS, and I felt that we were able to speed things up a bit.

4Gamer:
　Have the trends of players or your approach to game development changed between the first and second years?

Mr. Kimura:
　Immediately after the release of NGS, there were a lot of players who continued to play PSO2 as well as many players who returned to the game or were new to the game at that time.
　Player opinions and requests varied in terms of content, balance, and playability, but the common thread among many players was that there was not enough content and that there were a lot of bugs. Therefore, I made it my goal to fix those points during the first year.


4Gamer:
　In the first year, regions and classes were added and some content came out. Did player demands then change in the second year?

Mr. Kimura:
　It wasn’t because we hit the two-year mark, but as the overall player base, including those who started with NGS, gradually became more hardcore, we began to receive feedback that although the volume of content in the game had increased, the satisfaction with each individual piece of content and the replayability that makes players want to play the same content over and over again were lacking.
　We were seeing this not only in the form of player opinion, but also in the form of the retention rate, so we are shifting our thinking to the idea that we need to do more than just increase the volume of content.

4Gamer:
　Are you still seeing an increase in new players?

Mr. Kimura:
　Yes, although not as many new players have started playing the game during the past year as during the initial launch period for NGS. Especially for the Global version, for which we launched the PS4 version at the end of August last year, we have seen a considerable increase in new players.
　However, some players have said that they cannot catch up or keep up with existing players, so we continue to make adjustments and improvements to make the game easier to play, such as improving the early stages of play and providing additional explanations of game content in loading banners.

4Gamer:
　What is the ratio of newcomers starting with NGS to experienced PSO2 players?

Mr. Kimura:
　Depending on the month, about 30% to 40% of the active users of the Japan version are players who started after the launch of NGS. I feel that player turnover has progressed considerably since the PSO2 era.


4Gamer:
　With the updates we’ve had up to now, the original issue around a lack of content seems to have been mostly resolved. What do you consider to be the future challenges for development?

Mr. Kimura:
　As I mentioned earlier, we believe that the replayability of content is low, so I think the challenge for the future is to design not just a high volume of content, but content that makes people want to play for a long time.
　We need to design content that will make people want to play repeatedly, while at the same time delivering content that is intended to be played over a short window of time, such as the current seasonal events.
　The Creative Space that we’re implementing this time will offer a high degree of freedom to the player as well as elements to collect, so I think it can provide content with high replayability.


4Gamer:
　Character creation in NGS also has high replayability.

Mr. Kimura:
　Character Creation and the Creative Space are similar in that they allow players to be creative and play how they like.
　In contrast, I think the problem is that many battle-related activities have become just transient bits of fun. I think that with a little ingenuity, it’s possible that content that isn’t played much now could be enjoyed again, so I would like to arrange it better or distribute it in the form of limited-time events so that people can have fun with it again.

4Gamer:
　I used to play Ancient Enemies in Kvaris a lot. These days, though, I don’t go to Rayjord Gorge anymore.

Mr. Kimura:
　Ancient Enemies are also unique in how they attack, etc., but when the trend passes and the weapons available there are no longer needed, they no longer get played.
　I feel that it is very inefficient and wasteful to add content only to have it not be played later on. Until now, we have focused on the volume of content in the game, but that content doesn’t really build up the game, so I think that is a challenge.


4Gamer:
　Regarding content, do players play mostly for rewards?

Mr. Kimura:
　Rather than the fun of challenging an enemy you can't beat over and over again and finally defeating them, a lot of people seem to assume they will win and care more about how efficiently they can do it, and whether the reward is commensurate with the work involved.
　However, I think the struggle to defeat tough enemies is part of what makes a game fun, so I would like to include high-difficulty content like Duel Quests, a solo quest that has been available since April.

4Gamer:
　Right, a sense of accomplishment from the battles is also important.

Mr. Kimura:
　New Duel Quests will be available in June, and in August, we will also have some very challenging quests for large groups of players.
　Since this is a type of content that we haven’t done before, we expect to receive a variety of reactions and opinions from players after it is implemented. We will take these reactions and opinions into consideration when deciding what type of content to prioritize going forward.


4Gamer:
　Which updates over the past two years have been well received by players, and which have been unpopular?

Mr. Kimura:
　We received harsher feedback on the story elements than we expected. Coming even before whether the story was interesting or not, a lot of players responded that the volume and density were severely lacking, or that the story was not what they were expecting.

　PSO2 also had story elements, but unlike NGS, the story was separate from the main content, and many players did not continue with the story.
　For this reason, our policy for NGS was to simplify the story elements, which were only of interest to a limited number of players. With the evolution of open fields, battles, and character creation, it was difficult to push development efforts in all directions.


4Gamer:
　So, based on how people played PSO2, you felt that you didn't need to devote too many development resources to the storyline.

Mr. Kimura:
　That's right. However, when we started NGS, we found that many more players were looking forward to the story and the activities of the related NPCs than we had expected. Therefore, regarding the story, our original plans didn’t include enough story content, and for the reasons I explained above, we weren’t able to stick to the planned pace for releasing that content, so this was an issue that emerged even before considering whether it was received well or poorly.

　While we couldn’t boost the pace at which we released content because of how development was going for the regions, since last August we’ve been releasing Mini Episodes in an effort to respond as best we could to players’ expectations and desires. They’re only side stories, but they’ve been well received, so I am glad we went ahead with it.

About the NGS ver.2 Update

4Gamer:
　While most of the previous updates have focused on battle-oriented content, ver.2 will mainly include content for daily life and communication. Will you be adding more elements of this type in the future?

Mr. Kimura:
　Up to this point, our priority has been to enhance the battle and adventure elements of the game, so the expansion of non-combat content has been weak.
　Two years have passed since the release of NGS, and I think that at least the battle elements have been implemented, so I would like to enhance the next important elements, such as communication.

4Gamer:
　Were you aiming for the second anniversary from the start?

Mr. Kimura:
　We had been working on Portable Holograms and Cel Shading without having decided when to implement them, but the timing fit and we decided to implement them all at once. The fact that it’s all happening in June, the timing of the anniversary, is a combination of necessity and coincidence (laughs).

4Gamer:
　Do Portable Holograms, where you can place objects that are visible to other players, cause any issues with load?

Mr. Kimura:
　It is similar to an Emote displaying objects like a Shoji Screen or Sunken Fireplace. So, of course, there is a graphical load, but rest assured that it is not extremely heavy.


4Gamer:
　Is there a limit to the number of Portable Holograms that can be placed?

Mr. Kimura:
　A single player can place multiple holograms, but each type has a fixed cost. For example, in a City or Camp, an individual player can place up to a maximum cost of 6 at the same time. For a hologram with a cost of 1, it would be a max of six, for a hologram with a cost of 3, two, and so on. Outside Cities and Camps, the maximum cost is 12.
　They also disappear on their own at a certain distance, and when a large number are placed onscreen, distant objects are not rendered.

4Gamer:
　How many types of Portable Holograms are available?

Mr. Kimura:
　There are about 40 available by default. We also plan to add 3 to 5 new ones as prizes in each AC Scratch Ticket. We are considering a setup similar to how Emotes are released.

4Gamer:
　Many players enjoy taking screenshots, so I am glad to see the implementation of Portable Holograms, which will give players a wider range of possibilities for staging these. The function released previously that allows players to change the direction characters are facing also seems to have been well received.


Mr. Kimura:
　Adding this kind of content and functionality is one of the easiest player requests to fulfill early on. Improving battles and quests is incredibly difficult, and if one player's opinion is considered for implementation, others will be dissatisfied, so a lot of consideration must be given to the overall balance of the game.

　In this respect, additions and changes in character creation and UI-related matters are simply easier to do, since almost no one would be negatively affected by improvements. So, I would like to implement player opinions on character creation, etc., to the extent possible, even if it takes a long time.

4Gamer:
　In the last issue of NGS Headline, in-game Depth of Field was mentioned. With official NVIDIA software such as GeForce Experience, it is possible to take screenshots with Depth of Field and other filters applied.

An example of processing using NVIDIA FreeStyle, a feature available in Geforce Experience. Background has been blurred and brightness adjusted.

Mr. Kimura:
　Not just with software, but also cropping, pasting in original logos, and recently, retouching with AI to give an animated look, and many other types of processing are also possible.
　As long as the use of copyrighted material is in accordance with the guidelines and is not offensive, and as long as you do not use the processed materials to make and sell goods, we have no issue with how players use it.

4Gamer:
　Alright, so it’s OK to use it publicly on social media, then.

Mr. Kimura:
　However, we would like players to stay within the regulations when entering our contests.

4Gamer:
　The Creative Space is considerably more elaborate than its PSO2 counterpart, Personal Quarters. Was this something you had planned from the beginning of the development of NGS?

Mr. Kimura:
　Alternative content for Personal Quarters was planned to be implemented. However, if the content was the same as that of PSO2, there would be little point in including it on the NGS side, so we had to think carefully about the content.
　It took some time, but I think that the content we’ve put together has subverted?in a good way?the expectations of players who were imagining something like Personal Quarters.


4Gamer:
　The videos that were released exceeded my expectations by far. When did you start thinking about implementing it in its current form?

Mr. Kimura:
　It took its current form around October 2021. We decided on a plan of action at that time, and during the development process, we added the Connect System, the ability to place characters, and other features.

4Gamer:
　So, it wasn’t decided at the initial stages of NGS, was it?

Mr. Kimura:
　The only thing we had decided was that we would put in a Personal Quarters type of room at some point. However, Personal Quarters itself is more than 10 years old, and even then it was not such a novel system.
　Nowadays, there are many games with housing and crafting elements, which are incredibly popular. As a latecomer, we felt that we had to create something that would exceed that level of quality, and after some analysis of the current landscape, we concluded that this was what we had to do.

4Gamer:
　What volume of additional Build Parts and Furnishings will be provided for the Creative Space?

Mr. Kimura:
　There are two types of Build Parts: building material types, such as floors, walls, and simple three-dimensional objects; and furniture types, including transplants of PSO2 Furnishings.
　By default, about 35 types of building materials and several types of Furnishings are available.
As for items available through Genesis points, SG, rewards, etc., about once every two months we plan to sequentially release about 80 to 100 building material-type items, including texture changes, etc., and about 70 to 80 Furnishing-type items.

4Gamer:
　Is it possible to change the overall ambiance of the stage, as in Personal Quarters?

Mr. Kimura::
　At first, only spaces with a plains motif reminiscent of Aelio will be added, but in the future we plan to add other region themes such as Retem and Kvaris. Of course, matching Build Parts will be available for each of these.


4Gamer:
　How many Creative Spaces can players use?

Mr. Kimura:
　Even for free-to-play, you can use one space of about 300m x 300m in the game. One additional rental Space is available with the purchase of the Premium Set, and another additional rental Space is also available with AC.
　In PSO2, you could only use a small room unless you purchased the Premium Set, but this time players have the same size and functions within free-to-play.

4Gamer:
　As for Furnishings, you mentioned that some room goods will be transplanted, but you can't bring room goods from PSO2 directly, right?

Mr. Kimura:
　You cannot. The same look and feel are being provided in a new format for the Creative Space.

4Gamer:
　Regarding the Creative Space, have you already received any requests around its functions?

Mr. Kimura:
　The Creative Space was first announced in October 2022. We have been announcing the content in stages, and have received a variety of requests from players along the way.
　Some of the requests we had anticipated to an extent, such as the ability to place characters and Designs that allow you to save and develop the designs you have made. These have all been implemented as of June 7.

4Gamer:
　I see. So some player requests have already been implemented.

Mr. Kimura:
　However, I believe that a variety of additional requests will emerge after people have actually had a chance to try the content. In particular, most players are not yet familiar with the Connect System. So we hope that players continue to send us their requests for gameplay elements and patterns.

　The one function that we could not implement that will probably be requested in the future is an undo feature. The main reason for this is because we allow multiple players to edit the same room at the same time. It is very difficult to synchronize everyone's movements so that actions can be undone. So, allow me to apologize in advance for this.


4Gamer:
　Designs allow you to save the placement of Build Parts in a specified area, right? How many of these can be stored?

Mr. Kimura:
　Currently, we are planning to support 20.

4Gamer:
　Was Character Cel Shading something that players requested a lot?


Mr. Kimura:
　It was more a request from within the dev team than from the players. When NGS started, I was confident that our Character Creation had evolved considerably. However, at the same time, we faced a new challenge: what kind of evolution should we do next?
　Recently, more and more Cartoon and Cel-shaded type games are becoming popular with young people. Seeing that, we agreed that it would be great if NGS could also support Cel Shading.

4Gamer:
　Like the characters in Genshin and BLUE PROTOCOL.

Mr. Kimura:
　However, for Cel Shading, it is usually necessary to set up such a system from the start, and to create model data and asset data with that in mind. Therefore, for PSO2 and NGS, where many of our models just aren’t designed for Cel Shading, I honestly thought it would be impossible to start implementing Cel Shading midway through.

　However, since we are researchers as well as developers, we decided to do some technical research even if we ended up not adopting it for NGS, so we pitched some ideas to the designers and those in charge of creating the character system.
　After that, there was no progress. I thought everyone had been too busy to work on it, but out of the blue, someone said to me, "It's almost done, could you take a look ?” My reply was just, "What?”

4Gamer:
　The person in charge did a pretty good job, didn't he?

Mr. Kimura:
　Yes. It had a solid finish from the early stages, so from there all that was left was the scheduling up until its implementation as a product, and as a result, the timing coincided with that of the Creative Space.
　We decided to implement it in ver.2 because we thought it would be as big a feature as the Creative Space in terms of content.

4Gamer:
　I assume you are not preparing separate textures for the characters and outfits. Are you reproducing the Cel Shading programmatically?

Mr. Kimura:
　I am not a specialist, so I can’t answer that in detail, but we have done work exclusively to prepare NGS-spec faces. However, I do not have any data on hairstyles, outfits, accessories, etc.

4Gamer:
　This look only applies to characters, including NPCs, right? In the future, will it be possible to apply it to buildings and the rest of the world?

Mr. Kimura:
　At the moment, we are only planning on applying it to characters. As for the fields and enemies, I don't think there is much demand for them, so we are not considering them at this time. I also think it would be more difficult than applying this look to the characters.


4Gamer:
　If I turn on Cel Shading, will other players also see it?

Mr. Kimura:
　It is like a graphics setting, so if I set it, all characters including NPCs will be Cel Shaded. On the other hand, even if I turn on Cel Shading, my character will not look Cel Shaded to a player using normal settings.

4Gamer:
　So only the display from your point of view changes.

Mr. Kimura:
　After we announced these specs, some people commented that they did not want their own appearance to be changed without their permission, or that they did not like the fact that what they had adjusted in the Cel Shading settings did not look the same on other people's screens.
　Therefore, we are looking into whether it is possible to make detailed settings, such as applying it only to yourself, as a future extension. However, I think this will take some time. We decided that rather than wait and delay its release in the game for months, we would first implement it in its current state and then think about it while getting feedback from players.

The mystery of Halpha has been revealed. Where does the story go from here?

4Gamer:
　In a recent update, Chapter 5 of the story was released. Many of the mysteries of Planet Halpha have been unraveled; how have players responded?

Mr. Kimura:
　Compared to previous chapters, the response after release was the best so far. Not only were various mysteries solved, but the production was also very rich in content and well-received.

4Gamer:
　How far along are you in the overall storyline, up to Chapter 5? I am wondering if we are still at the beginning or in the middle of the story.

Mr. Kimura:
　I can't tell you the extent of the overall project, but it was decided from the initial design that four regions would be released through Chapter 4, and the story would be developed accordingly.
　For this reason, we had prepared the scenarios and scripts for the first four chapters, but for Chapter 5, we finalized the content based on players' reactions to the story after NGS was launched and after seeing the decline in satisfaction due to the gaps in delivery between each chapter.
　

4Gamer:
　I’m very interested in what happens after Chapter 5, but when will the next part of the story be released?

Mr. Kimura:
　The release of Chapter 6 will begin with the ver. 2 update in June. However, instead of dropping a whole chapter in one installment, as we have done in the past, we plan to continue the story in smaller increments?such as sections 1, 2, and 3 of Chapter 6?with a section coming about every two months.

Image: Thumbnail image No.012 / [Interview] Interview with Yuya Kimura, Series Producer of PSO2 NEW GENESIS, discussing the game’s past and future on the event of its 2nd anniversary.


4Gamer:
　There are a variety of NPCs in the story. Are there any particularly popular characters?

Mr. Kimura:
　We are running a Character Election (https://PSO2.jp/players/news/30169/) and until we see the results, I can't give you a definitive answer. However, the best reaction we’ve gotten so far when we released information on new characters was for Glen and Kanui from Stia.
　These two were designed based on player reactions to characters, Outfits, and trends following the release of NGS, so if they are popular, I think this is partly because we were able to be more targeted.

Heading into the third year of NGS - Future Development

4Gamer:
　Since the launch of NGS, a variety of collaborations have taken place, could you let us know of any more that you have planned?

Mr. Kimura:
　In June, there will be a collaboration with Sonic. In conjunction with the ver.2 update, we will release a paid DLC that includes a Sonic costume and Build Parts that allow you to create something similar to a Sonic stage in the Creative Space.
　Also on June 27, we will have a big decorative event like the Crossover Events in PSO2. We will also release limited-time collab quests that pay homage to Sonic games. I hope our players will be excited for those.

4Gamer:
　What about collaborations with content from other companies?

Mr. Kimura:
　We have an AC Scratch Ticket planned in collaboration with GHOST IN THE SHELL: SAC_2045. Also, I can’t go into specifics yet, but even after August, we have collabs lined up almost every month for the next six months.
　In August and September, we are collaborating with some anime titles, and the one for August especially is a title that some players have been asking for a long time, so I think they will be pleased with it.


4Gamer:
　With the addition of the new Slayer class, all weapon types from PSO2 are now available. Will there be additional Classes and Weapon types in the future?

Mr. Kimura:
　We are considering what to do here based on the Slayer's results. We haven't decided yet, but there is a way to do combined jobs like heroes, and we have also heard from users that they want new weapons.
　However, what we need to consider is that if we add more classes, we will need to maintain them for years to come. If we go from 10 classes to 11 classes, development resources will be distributed accordingly, so we need to consider the impact of such a change.

4Gamer:
　What about adjusting existing classes and adding skills?

Mr. Kimura:
　Naturally, that’s in the works. New Class Skills will be added in June, and we also plan to make balance adjustments.


4Gamer:
　The Slayer's promo video was pretty cool, how did you go about making that?


Mr. Kimura:
　When we released the Waker last year, we changed its name and appearance from the Summoner in PSO2 to give it a more kaleidoscopic look.
　But it wasn’t played as much as I had hoped. If players tried the class once and it didn't click with them, I don't blame them, but many players have never even tried it.

4Gamer:
　That’s surprising. I would think that for a new class, everyone would at least try it without reservations.

Mr. Kimura:
　I realized that it is very important to make people want to try and play the class, rather than just talk about its appearance and performance. So, we decided that the same kind of promotion would not work, and we decided to create a promo video that would pique the interest even of people who had not played NGS.

4Gamer:
　You mean that a promo video should not only introduce the content but also attract new players.

Mr. Kimura:
　The promo videos for new content, including classes that have been implemented in the past, were designed to carefully explain the content to existing players, and were only intended to convey what we wanted to say.
　Conversely, the images would not be clear to people who have not played PSO2 or NGS, or are unfamiliar with the series, so our intention with the Slayer promo was to rouse the interest of a broad audience.

4Gamer:
　As a player, I was more excited about that update than any other promo I have seen so far.
　Finally, what would you like to say to your users?


Mr. Kimura:
　Thanks to all of you, we will soon celebrate our second anniversary. Once again, I would like to thank all the players who have enjoyed NGS so far.
　I apologize for any inconvenience caused during the initial launch window of the game. I don't think we have been able to eliminate all of those issues yet, but we have been able to reflect the feedback we have received, albeit gradually, and I believe that things are steadily improving. I also hope to continue to improve our title moving forward.

　The reason we added ver.2 to this update is not only to encourage more new players to try NGS, but also to encourage those who stopped playing in the early days to come back and start fresh.

　I hope that current players will look forward to this update, and if you feel so inclined, I would be happy to hear from people who are coming back from hiatus, as well as newcomers who are here to enjoy NGS with us.
　The development team will work even harder than before to make the game more exciting, both inside and outside the game, together with our players. As NGS enters its third year, we look forward to its further evolution.

4Gamer:
　Thank you very much for your time today.

※The responsibility for the contents of the Japanese article lies with 4Gamer.
The responsibility for the translation lies with SEGA.

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