Japanese game creators discuss 2026 ambitions
Hints and teases for the new year.
4Gamer.net has published the 2026 edition of its annual end-of-year interviews with Japanese game creators. The website interviewed 194 creators this year, several of which tease new titles and announcements to come in 2026.
Get the notable tidbits below.
Kenji Satou
(Known for River City: Rival Showdown, River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next)
—Ambitions for 2026
“Thank you greatly for the support you’ve shown towards our company’s titles. 2026 will be the Kunio-kun 40th anniversary commemoration year. I’d like to make it a year we can celebrate together with everyone who has supported the series thus far. Please continue to give us your support and patronage.”
■ RS34
Daisuke Nagata
(Known for Karous, Radirgy, etc.)
—Ambitions for 2026
“In 2026, I’d like to consciously seek out new encounters and challenges. As for our next work, I can’t say anything yet, but we’re preparing various things, including approaches different from before, so I’d be happy if you could look forward to it!!”
Hikaru Yasui
(Known for Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters, MADO MONOGATARI: Fia and the Wondrous Academy, Touhou Spell Carnival, etc.)
—Ambitions for 2026
“Thank you so much to all of the fans who have supported the Neptunia series! The excitement surrounding its 15th anniversary year in 2025 far exceeded our development team’s expectations. It was none other than the fans who continued to send us their passion, love, and support, who made this year the best one yet, and for that, we are truly grateful from the bottom of our hearts. The power we received has undoubtedly become a great source of strength for our next step.
“And now, it is finally 2026.
“We sincerely hope to further accelerate the excitement of this commemorative year and finally deliver the long-awaited latest numbered entry in the Neptunia series that everyone has been eagerly anticipating. With a ‘prayer’ to deliver the best game possible, Tsunako and the rest of the staff are currently hard at work in development with the goal of exceeding everyone’s expectations.
“Please look forward to a new Hyperdimension story in 2026, and we sincerely ask for your continued support!”
■ ATLUS
Shinjirou Takata
(Known for the Devil Survivor series, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, Shin Megami Tensei V, and Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance)
—Ambitions for 2026
“We released RAIDOU Remastered in June 2025 and Persona 3 Reload for Switch 2 in October, and we’re now at a point where things like demo releases and patch support have finally settled down… or so we thought. It looks like it may be a little while longer before I can report anything next.”
Atsushi Nomura
(Known for Persona 4 Golden remastered, Persona 5 Tactica)
—Ambitions for 2026
“Counting back to Revelations: Persona, which first released in 1996, the Persona series will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2026. I would like to express my gratitude to those who have supported us for a long time, as well as to those who have newly discovered Persona, and I hope to make it a year in which Persona can reach even those who have not yet experienced it. I’d love for us to build the excitement together with everyone. We’ve also received a lot of support for Persona 4 Revival. We’re very much looking forward to the day we can make another announcement, so please continue to give us your support.”
Kazuhisa Wada
(Known for Persona 5 Royal, Persona 3 Reload, Persona 5: The Phantom X, etc.)
—Ambitions for 2026
“The Persona series will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2026. As a token of our gratitude to everyone, we’re preparing a wide variety of initiatives on a global scale, so please look forward to them…! Additionally, we believe there will be opportunities in 2026 to talk about future developments for the series. Preparations are steadily coming together, and all of us at ATLUS will be giving it our all to build excitement around Persona, so we sincerely ask for your continued support…!”
Takuya Aizu
(Known for the Azure Striker Gunvolt series, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon series, Grim Guardians series, Card-en-Ciel, etc.)
—Ambitions for 2026
“In the second half of 2026, we’re preparing to announce new developments in the Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX series, and we’re also moving forward behind the scenes on new titles that we can’t yet talk about here. We’ll continue pushing ahead with development every day so that we can deliver some surprising announcements in 2026, so please look forward to further updates!”
Hajime Chikami
(Known for the Demon Gaze series, Spirit Hunter series, Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi)
—Ambitions for 2026
“Next year, we will release Demon Kill Demon, our first new dungeon RPG in some time. It is set in a world five years after the events of Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi. It’s a fairly dark title aimed at core players, but we’re also taking on new challenges to make it even more satisfying. We also have developments planned for Monkarufanta: The Hero and the Crystal Girl and the Spirit Hunter horror adventure series, so we appreciate your continued support next year as well.”
■ M2
Naoki Horii
(Known for Night Striker GEAR)
—Ambitions for 2026
“Next year marks the 10th anniversary of M2’s publishing brand, M2ShotTriggers. A lot can happen over 10 years, and we’d like to deliver as much of everything we’ve been stockpiling as possible to everyone. With all the sneak peeks and things we’ve already shared, it might end up being the most information-packed year we’ve ever had… or so I believe. Honestly, it’s gotten to the point where we’re wondering if we’ll need to adjust our release schedule, because it kind of feels like we’ve saved up way too much.”
■ Koei Tecmo Games / Gust
Junzo Hosoi
(Known for the Atelier series)
—Ambitions for 2026
“In 2026, the Gust brand will continue to take on various challenges. We’re taking on not only the Atelier series, but also fresh new titles, so please look forward to them.”
■ Koei Tecmo Games / Team NINJA
Fumihiko Yasuda
(Known for the Nioh series, NINJA GAIDEN, Rise of the Ronin)
—Ambitions for 2026
“This year, several new Team NINJA titles will be released, including Nioh 3 on February 6 and FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE on March 12, so please be sure to check them out! We’ll also be sharing news on new titles and series that are sure to delight our fans, so please look forward to that.”
Hiroshi Matsuyama
(Known for the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles series, the .hack series, the Fuga: Melodies of Steel series)
—Ambitions for 2026
“CyberConnect2 will celebrate its 30th anniversary! The company was founded on February 16, 1996, so 2026 will mark 30 years. We’ll also be holding an anniversary party, so we hope everyone from the 4Gamer editorial team can join us. We’re sure you’ll have a great time, and we’ll be making various announcements as well.”
■ JP Games
Hajime Tabata
(Known for Final Fantasy XV)
—Ambitions for 2026
“In 2026, we will hold beta testing for RYUGUKOKU, an online RPG set in a fantasy Japan filled with user-generated content, where players battle the victors of history. We look forward to your continued support next year.”
Takashi Anzai
(Known for Dragon Quest X Online)
—Ambitions for 2026
“I’ll be taking on various new challenges. I plan to announce them in 2026, so please look forward to it!”
(Known for the Dragon Quest series, the NieR series)
—Ambitions for 2026
“Next year marks the 40th anniversary of Dragon Quest! I’d be extremely happy if everyone could join in on a grand celebration. And for NieR: Automata‘s ninth anniversary, we’re also preparing ‘just a little something…’ so please don’t get too excited with anticipation! With that, I wish you all a happy New Year.”
Kazutoyo Maehiro
(Known for the Final Fantasy Tactics (1997), Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy XVI, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, etc.)
—Ambitions for 2026
“In 2025, we released Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles on September 30 and LOGOS: The World of Final Fantasy XVI on December 16. While the game and book took different approaches, we put our all into both so that anyone who picks them up might feel, even just a little, ‘Games are fun, huh?’ The next ‘something’ we’re preparing will also be content with a different approach. We’re working hard to bring you a new gaming experience, so please wait a little longer until the day we can debut it.”
■ SEGA
Hiroyuki Sakamoto
(Known for the Yakuza series)
—Ambitions for 2026
“Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties will be released on February 12, 2026, so we hope everyone will enjoy it. We also expect to make some surprising and exciting announcements in 2026, so please look forward to those as well.”
Toshihiro Kondo
(Known for the Trails series, Ys series, etc.)
—Ambitions for 2026
“Falcom has always released new titles at a pace of one per year, but with more team members, we’ve been able to pick up the pace and put a system in place that allows us to take on new challenges. This year, we hope to show some of the results of that. We’ve already announced Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, and since the company will also celebrate its 45th anniversary this year, we plan to share new information and excitement throughout the year. Please look forward to it.”
Yusuke Tomizawa
(Known for the Tales series, God Eater series, etc.)
—Ambitions for 2026
“The Tales of series will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2026, and we hope to share further updates on the remaster series we’ve been developing. Looking ahead to the future of the series, we will continue working hard on new titles and on promoting the series as an IP.”
■ LEVEL-5
Ken Motomura
(Known for the Yo-kai Watch series, Snack World series, etc.)
—Ambitions for 2026
“As for Decapolice, which I’m in charge of, the information I can share at this time is limited, but development is steadily progressing. We’re also taking on new gameplay challenges unique to this title, including elements of deduction and storytelling. We hope to announce more at a time and in a way that properly conveys its appeal, so please look forward to it.”