Reika Interviews Director Yoo HyungSuk of "Goddess of Victory: NIKKE"! A Glimpse of the Next Collaboration?! And a Certain Pose at the End!

I'm the director and “dancer” (laughs) for "Goddess of Victory: NIKKE" at SHIFT UP.
My name is Yoo HyungSuk. It's a pleasure to meet you.

My way of thinking about game development changed significantly before and after the release of NIKKE.
At first, I placed importance on delivering a game with excellent technical and visual aspects to users, but now I think that the feeling of love for our users is the most important thing. I believe that the emotional connection between the development side and the users, where the users love the game, is what's most important.
This change in my feelings is not something that can happen anywhere, so I am nothing but grateful to the users who have given me this valuable experience.

When we held our first fan meeting in Japan in 2024, I thought, "Users aren't really interested in the development side, are they?" But people came up to me and CEO Kim and welcomed us with words of thanks.
I am grateful for that emotional connection, where we felt a sense of familiarity with each other.
I performed a dance there, and thanks to that, I have now started on the path of a dancer.
The program originally didn't include a dance, but after arriving in Japan, my gratitude to the users grew, so I hastily practiced a dance at the hotel and performed it on the day of the event.

It was the dance of the in-game NPC Mustang. By the way, it's not a cool dance (laughs).

Japanese users who play the game until they have a favorite character often say, "Thank you for making a game like this."
Seeing positive comments on social media gives me energy. Also, they are active in secondary creations like fan art and cosplay, so I often peek into their online communities.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone.

One Japanese user who left a lasting impression on me was at the fan meeting. As soon as she saw me and CEO Kim, she started crying and said, "My wish has come true." Seeing someone like that made me want to work harder and make an even better game.
It also made me realize how much "Goddess of Victory: NIKKE" is loved.

A Korean user at an offline event told me, "NIKKE plays a huge role in my life," and that made me feel good about choosing the path of a developer and that I was able to bring joy to everyone through the game.

However, today (September 28, 2024), someone came who had made a cosplay of Chatterbox by hand-making each part with a 3D printer, and it filled me with deep emotion. That person came all the way from the US.

We look for IPs to collaborate with from various angles, and thankfully, there are also IPs that come to us and propose a collaboration with "Goddess of Victory: NIKKE."
The conditions for a decision are that the IP is a hot topic title, and especially its compatibility with "Goddess of Victory: NIKKE".
We consider whether the collaboration can highlight the good qualities of both titles and whether they can fuse together.

There are many titles we would like to collaborate with, and it's difficult to be specific, but one thing I can tell you is that there's a possibility with "Stellar Blade".

I'd like to hold them more actively from now on, and I want to increase the opportunities to meet all of you.

If there's a chance to go to other regions, I would definitely like to go.
Recently, I've become known as a “dancer,” but I'm also a developer, so I'd like to visit various cities as long as the development schedule allows.

The game I'm currently obsessed with is not to brag, but it's "Goddess of Victory: NIKKE"!
I'm aiming for a story and battle that I find interesting to play myself, so I'm enjoying it exactly as I'd hoped.

The game that inspired me to pursue game development in my life was The Legend of Heroes III: The White Witch.
From that game, I learned how much the scenario and sound can influence a game.
It was the game that led me to put a lot of effort into the scenario and sound for "Goddess of Victory: NIKKE."

I've been about three times on my own.
The temperature at this year's TGS was cool, but the atmosphere was very lively, as I heard that the number of visitors was the highest ever.

I wanted to try the Monster Hunter demo, but I couldn't, so I only went to the Level Infinite booth.
I'll have to settle for just imagining the gameplay...

I've played "Monster Hunter: World," "Monster Hunter Frontier," and many others. My main weapon is the bow.

I think the most important thing in a game is the scenario, because I believe everything starts with the scenario.
I want the scenario of "Goddess of Victory: NIKKE" to serve as a solid foundation, so the main outline for the next two years has already been planned.
Therefore, I want to properly deliver the main scenario to everyone, and also provide other content. And, of course, I want to listen carefully to the voices of the users and respond flexibly.

It may sound like a dream, but I want "Goddess of Victory: NIKKE" to be a game that lasts for over 20 years, and I believe that by creating the system mentioned above, it will become a game that is loved for a long time.
I have done my best for these past two years, and I will continue to do so. I would be happy if the users would stick with me. Thank you all so much, as always.