[Kayane @ gamescom 2018] Interview with Motohiro Okubo, Producer on Soul Calibur VI

With the release of Soul Calibur VI drawing nearer and nearer, information surrounding the newest clash of two swords is becoming more readily available to us. And after a first interview rife with anecdotes with Motohiro Okubo, the game’s producer, it ‘s time for Round 2 !

Kayane : First let’s talk about Tira. She’s been announced as a DLC character, yet the full roster hasn’t been entirely revealed.

Motohiro Okubo : I apologize for the unconventionnal announcement. In terms of the main roster for launch, there aren’t many characters left, but there will be announcements soon enough.

K. : Why did you decide to announce a DLC character now ?

M.O. : About Tira, having her in Soul Calibur VI needed some pretty complicated adjustments, so much so that she nearly didn’t make the cut. After we had announced Soul Calibur VI, a lot of fans asked for Tira, so I went to see the development team and asked them to put her in the game, so that’s why she isn’t in the main roster and is DLC.

Having her as part of the Season Pass and unlocked Day One was the result of a lot of internal discussion and debate within the company. As for the timing of the reveal, the preorders for the Season Pass started yesterday and since she’s a Season Pass bonus, we had to make both announcements at the same time.

Opinions do differ wildly about these announcements. I personnally think we should’ve been more careful about the way we have announced all this.

K. : I see. So… Can we expect characters from Soul Calibur V, or characters like Setsuka who don’t fit into Soul Calibur VI’s story to be included in the Season Pass like Tira ?

M.O. : Maybe the Season Pass will come with a guest character ? Maybe. We don’t know who.

K. : One guest character and other old Soul Calibur characters ?

M.O. : We don’t know if we have more guest characters yet. It’s all in talks right now. Still, it’s possible that within the Season Pass we’ll have characters from IV or V. They might not fit the same time frame from the game’s story, but it’s possible.

K. : How many characters will there be in the Season Pass ?

M.O. : Including Tira, there will be six pieces of DLC. Four characters (incuding Tira) and two customization item packs for character creation.

K. : All that for the first Season Pass, then ?

M.O. : Indeed !

K. : Will there be a Music Box like in Tekken 7, where you can select the music from previous SC to the stage you want.

M.O. : There will be some features to let you select BGM, but I can’t talk about the final details on that. It’s still in discussions and I have to check with the staff.

K. : Will characters have alternate costumes ?

M.O. : As of now, characters only have one costume with alternative colors. We wanted to have more, but it was kinda complicated and we do have the character customization mode to compensate.

K. : So like in Tekken 7 we would have access to other styles of costumes with the customization mode ?

M.O. : Well we don’t have the older costumes from the series, but I think you’ll be able to create something similar in this mode.

K. : With the Create a Soul mode, will you add more pieces in the future via patches or DLC ?

M.O. : As I said, there will be two packs specifically with additionnal pieces within the Season Pass. We might have some free DLC in the future, but right now we’re solely focused on creating content for the Season Pass.

K. : But will we have any free DLC before the end of the Season Pass or will it happen after ?

M.O. : Well, Tira is Day One, and we’ll try to get the rest out as early as possible after launch.

K. : We have seen a new character with this new Story Mode. Some kind of wizard with a rope. Can you say more about him ?

M.O. : Oh ? Did you see him ? Really ? *laughs* Well, he’s an important character in the Story Mode we just announced. He has a purpose to save the world… But that’s all I can say.

K. : Wait, so he’s a good guy ?

M.O. : *silence and laughter*

K. : Will he be playable ?

M.O. : Yes, indeed.

K : Oh, will he ? So he’s actually a new character !

M.O. : *silence and laughter*

K. : I see *smiles* Will there be a new female character ?

*silence*

I hope so !

M.O. : That’s a pretty tricky question !

K. : A new character maybe ? Like Grøh ?

M.O. : Like I said earlier, there aren’t many characters left from the main roster to reveal, though they will be soon. You just have a wait a little while longer.

K : I’ll wait, okay. *smiles*

I would like to ask a question about supporting the scene.

Mortal Kombat X, Warner Bros. added some accessories and costumes that people can buy. The money from these purchases goes into the competitive scene. I was wondering if you were thinking of doing something similar, especially since the Customization Mode in Soul Calibur is really popular !

M.O. : Well… I don’t know if you know about the situation of e-sports in Japan, but until recently, you couldn’t receive any money as a reward for winning competitions. That’s because of many laws, like anti-gambling and the like. So for Tekken it’s only been a year since we’ve been able to give pro licences to certain people so that they could receive rewards.

As a Japan-based company, it’s actually pretty difficult to know where and how we can convert the game’s sales and its DLC profits into cashprizes, as the game is sold worldwide. It will involve different legislations in different countries as well as a lot of accounting, so giving an answer now is pretty tricky.

K. : I understand. Well, that’s a wrap ! Thank you for your answers !