In a very exciting turn of events, Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi—creators of the excellent Danganronpa and Zero Escape, respectively—are banding together to open a new indie studio called Too Kyo Games, and they’ve already got four new projects in the works.
None of the new projects have names yet, let alone release windows or target platforms, but concept art and brief descriptions should be enough to whet the appetite. One game sees Kodaka and Uchikoshi collaborating directly on something with “limits” and “despair” as keywords. Another, written by Uchikoshi and with particularly striking artwork by illustrator Take (Tawagoto, Fate/Grand Order), will pit school children into a “very shocking” death game. There’s a cyberpunk game being created in collaboration with Spike Chunsoft (which Kodaka apparently began working on before he left that company), with artwork by Danganronpa illustrator Shimadoriru. Finally, Too Kyo Games is working with Studio Pierrot on an anime inspired by films like Pulp Fiction and The Professional. You can see the concept art for all four projects below.
Too Kyo Games also made its global outlook clear from the outset, which is somewhat unusual for a Japanese indie developer. In an English statement, Kodaka said that “The object of this company is to do something new, which is the creation of a new IP commonly known all over the world and in a future we will make indie games by ourselves. This new company enables us to move freely towards the goal.” Famitsu even published an English-language article about the news, which isn’t something they do often. I think it’s safe to say that, one way or another, all these projects will see a Western release.
As well as Kodaka and Uchikoshi, Too Kyo Games’ staff includes composer Masafumi Takada (Danganronpa, 100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams), illustrators Rui Komatsuzaki (Danganronpa, Fate/Grand Order) and Shimadoriru (Danganronpa, Fate/Grand Order), and writers Yoichiro Koizumi (Brake-kun core, Zettati Zetsubo Hagakure) and Takumi Nakazawa (Ever17, Root Double: Before Crime * After Days).
With talent like that, Too Kyo Games’ works should turn out very good indeed, and we’ll be eagerly looking forward to their release. For now, enjoy these stunning pieces of concept art, courtesy of Famitsu.
New concept art 1: A collaboration between Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi, with keywords “limits” and “despair”
New concept art 2: An anime series in collaboration with Studio Pierrot, inspired by ’90s action films like Pulp Fiction and The Professional
New concept art 3: A death game involving school children, written by Kotaro Uchikoshi and with art by Take.
New concept art 4: A cyberpunk game created by Kazutaka Kodaka, in collaboration with Spike Chunsoft
Source: Famitsu
