BlazBlue Is Not Done And Will Have A Future, Says Arc System Works CEO

Arc System Works CEO Minoru Kidooka has confirmed that BlazBlue is not finished and has a future at the studio. While revealing the main reason for the franchise’s hiatus to be Guilty Gear, Kidooka talked about the two IPs with IGN at the Arc World Tour grand finals. When asked about his plan for BlazBlue following the expansion of Guilty Gear Strive, Kidooka said that even though he is proud of how the community has embraced BlazBlue, the studio doesn’t want the two franchises to compete with each other right now. 

With Strive now being on every major non-Nintendo platform, cross play being implemented, and we’re now going through season two, are there any updates to your plan regarding BlazBlue?

Kidooka: We’re very proud of how the community has interacted with [BlazBlue]. One thing that we’re concerned with, one thing that we’re thinking about right now is that we don’t want to really have Guilty Gear and BlazBlue competing with each other.”

But, that doesn’t mean BlazBlue is going to stay on the back burner forever. Minoru Kidooka acknowledged the love and effort the fans have put into the series, making it what it is today. As a result of its popularity, Arc System Works want to do something with the series in the future. Hence, BlazBlue isn’t done, it is something for the future as Guilty Gear is the main player now, per the studio’s CEO,

The community has put so much effort into making it what it is today, and keeping that in mind, we do want to touch back on the series at some point. So it is definitely not the case that BlazBlue is done. It is something that will be in the future. But for now, Guilty Gear is the main.”

Minoru Kidooka also said how the studio wants to do something impactful the next time they release a BlazBlue game. Making exciting new titles for the users is the Arc System Works motto according to the CEO. And, when the developer gets back to the franchise eventually, it will abide by this motto. To quote his exact words, Kidooka said:

So as always, Arc System Works motto is to keep pushing forward and to keep having something new, exciting, and impactful for the users. And that’s something we’re going to be considering eventually when we do put out BlazBlue, something that has an equally strong impact as when you move to 3D with Xrd.”

There hasn’t been a single mainline entry in the fighting series since 2015’s BlazBlue: Central Fiction. Only spin-offs and new editions of older games have come out during this time, making fans think the studio is done with the franchise. Considering the popularity of the franchise, this is no surprise as it has sold over 2.4 million copies worldwide as of February 2021.

Its most recent spin-off in the series, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, sold half a million copies by 2020. The decision to focus on Guilty Gear makes sense when you factor in the success of Strive. It is the best-selling title in the franchise, selling 1 million copies by 2022 without even releasing on the Nintendo Switch.

Guilty Gear Strive was also the first game in the franchise after 7 years, which became a commercial and critical success. Hence, we can hope that Arc System Works relaunches BlazBlue in the same manner when the time comes.