Arc System Works Announces New Action Title, Not A New Fighting Game

Guilty Gear creator Daisuke Ishiwatari and Arc System Works have been cooking, though it’s not a new fighting game.

Instead, the team are working on a mid-sized action title where you play as a demon king stuck with a child he is forced to protect; by gunning and shooting his way out of trouble (and oncoming demons and all sorts of hitmen) in his attempt to break the child-sticking curse.

The game is called DAMON and BABY, and it’s Arc System Works’ way of establishing a new development pillar outside of fighting games (which they’re still doing because Guilty Gear Strive is doing gangbusters). Here is the full speech from Chief Creative Officer Daisuke Ishiwatari:

“You might be wondering why I specifically use the term mid-range [for DAMON and BABY]. There are many reasons, but one is that even creators themselves can enjoy striving for their dreams. In recent years, with AAA blockbusters and excellent indie titles gaining popularity, it has become extremely risky for companies to create new series. This has led to dwindling opportunities for young creators to have their own projects. We feel the need to focus our efforts towards the future a decade from now, such as to build stable development schemes and to accumulate technology and know-how.

Our flagship title Guilty Gear has now become a million selling copy work—but its very first installment was a small-scale project. From there, over many long years, we built a foundation that could guarantee a certain level of quality in the fighting games genre. Similarly we hope to take a step with this project that will eventually lead to bigger dreams. And precisely because they are mid-range titles, this will create many opportunities to produce many titles and cultivate many creators, and we hope that will become one of the future values of Arc System Works.”

No console or release date have been mentioned as of now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBEFzd4zr-M