Level-5 President Reveals Multiple Upcoming Projects Including Release Estimate For Next Ni No Kuni Game

Iyane Agossah June 26, 2019 4:08 PM EST

Akihiro Hino revealed Level-5 is undergoing changes to prevent delays; trailer and comments on the Ni no Kuni movie and more.

Japanese business magazine Nikkei published an interview with Level-5’s President Akihiro Hino. Game’s Talk summarized the interview, here’s everything he talked about:

Akihiro Hino mentioned how Yo-kai Watch 4 was the very first Level-5 title that was developed from the start as a Nintendo Switch title. It’s a Yo-kai Watch game that can be enjoyed by everyone, where they put in “everything” loved by fans of the series so far. Yo-kai Watch 4 will also have links with the next Yo-kai Watch anime movie launching on December 13, 2019, in Japan.

Akihiro Hino also mentioned how Level-5 is a studio which strives to deliver great games, as such it has very strict requirements for a game to be released. And if a game’s development is complete but doesn’t meet these requirements, it gets pushed back, explaining what happened with Inazuma Eleven Ares no Tenbin and Yo-Kai Watch 4. Now, the company realized that while they must hold on into that pride, they also need to balance things out considering their development power, to develop, check and release their titles on time. With that in mind, Level-5 is currently completely reviewing its development process.

The Ni No Kuni movie, which premieres on August 29 in Japanese theaters, is part of the plan to make Ni No Kuni into a bigger franchise. This is also why they’re releasing the remaster and Switch port of the first episode in September 2019. Akihiro Hino also stated that the next new Ni No Kuni game will release sometime after the movie. He mentioned that a smartphone app related to Ni No Kuni should be released later on too.

An update to July 2018 released mobile game Fantasy Life Online should be coming soon to make it into a better experience for players. Level-5 is also planning to push the game forward, and the collaboration event with Final Fantasy XIV is part of those plans.

2019 is the year of mobile games for Level-5, and multiple new mobile titles launched or will launch in 2019. One of these is Dragon & Colonies, developed by Keiji Inafune’s studio Comcept. Another one is the renewal and relaunch of mobile game Otome Yuusha, which first launched in 2018.

Level-5 is also working on a new unannounced titled focusing on Esports. The title is one of the new challenges Level-5 is undertaking. The game’s target audience is “everyone” but will mostly target children. It aims to be a fun experience which will leave no one with hard feelings even after losing a match.

Looking ahead, Level-5 is currently solidifying its footholds, and by the end of 2019, Level-5 is planning to fully regain the trust of its customers after their games got delayed multiple times.

Yo-kai Watch 4 launched on June 20 in Japan on Switch, after numerous delays. Inazuma Eleven Ares is still planned for “2019” with no precise release date.