Cavia was the original developer of Drakengard series and Nier, but the studio was dissolved into Marvelous AQL. Access Games makers of Lord of Arcana and Deadly Premonition is in charge of Drakengard 3.

"As long as there is [Taro] Yoko-san, we can continue the series. So, even though Cavia is no longer in existence, with Yoko-san as part of whatever developmental team, the series can continue," producer Takamasa Shiba said to Siliconera when we asked how Drakengard 3 got greenlit. Yoko was working at Cavia when he led Drakengard and NIer as the director. After Cavia closed, Yoko freelanced for awhile before joining Square Enix to help the PC game Monster X Dragon.

"Speaking of Access, how did they become involved to develop Drakengard 3," I asked. Shiba had a surprisingly candid reply.

"They’re just really good at creating action games," Shiba said of Access Games. "And… this might seem odd coming from the creator himself, but Drakengard was known for the story, but the action wasn’t very good. It was not as strong. So we really wanted to have a studio that’s known for action, for it to be their strength. Why is why we asked them to join the team."

"Why don’t you believe the action in past installments were not up to par? Were there technical restraints? Perhaps creative? "

"Cavia wasn’t very experienced… they never really created action-based games before. Whereas specific studios specialize in creating action games… it’s a difficult skill to have. You really have to be experienced in it," Shiba added.