Danganronpa and The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy's Kazutaka Kodaka reckons developers working on live service games should think about how to wrap up the story in advance because, well, for most of them the end is "inevitable."
Kodaka's advice isn't coming out of thin air, either. His Too Kyo Games studio worked on the concept, music, and character designs for action-RPG Tribe Nine, developed by Akatsuki Games. And, as you might have guessed, the free-to-play game is actually shutting down come November 27.
To provide some kind of closure to fans, Kodaka then co-established Neoneon Tribe, an unofficial doujin circle set to work on an ending to the story via not-for-profit web comics and other endeavours.
"I understand that this may not be the ending everyone truly hoped for—but if I can create a compelling story, maybe it will spark something new," Kodaka tweeted. "I'm aiming to make it that good. It'll be released for free, so I hope you’ll read it... I promise you this: I won't let TRIBE NINE end in a way that makes loving it feel like a mistake or something to be ashamed of. It's been over 20 years since I've done creative work without receiving any compensation, but if I'm doing this, I'll give it my all."
Speaking to Automaton, the developer acknowledged that making a live service game with the assumption that it'll fail isn't the best idea, but devs should at least think about how to finish a story. "When an IP you created inevitably fails as a business, nothing much can be done there, however, I believe that we have to find a way to offer our players a sincere conclusion," he said.
"Of course, creators can't really go about making a game under the assumption that it is going to end services, it's somewhat inevitable," he added. "But I do believe that, as a way of taking responsibility for creating the game, one of the things creators should be thinking about when they start working on their project is how to wrap it up regardless of what happens to it."
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