Kazutaka Kodaka, who has created live service games, believes that even failed games should have some kind of ending.

According to the creator of the Danganronpa series, live service games should provide players with a proper ending when they shut down. In an interview with Automaton, Kodaka discussed his current live service game, Tribe Nine, an action RPG that will shut down in November despite having been released just a few months prior. Remaining committed to the game’s storyline, Kodaka announced the creation of Neo Neon Tribe, an unofficial, nonprofit fan group that will complete the story.

He believes that players who participated in Tribe Nine deserve to see the game finished rather than having the story left unfinished when it shuts down. He said that, while no developer intends to create a live service game that will be shut down soon, they must still decide early on how they will end the game when that inevitably happens.

“When an IP you created inevitably fails as a business, there’s not much that can be done. However, I believe that, as developers, we must find a way to offer our players a sincere conclusion. Of course, creators can’t make a game assuming it will end service, but it’s somewhat inevitable. But I do believe that, as a way of taking responsibility for creating the game, one of the things creators should think about when starting a project is how to wrap it up, regardless of what happens to it,” he said.

Although he only came up with the story for Tribe Nine and did not develop the game, Kodaka said he felt responsible for it as a co-creator of the IP. The Neo Neon Tribe group will finish the story in a web novel and expand the world with unofficial, nonprofit works, with the blessing of the game’s publisher, Akatsuki.

Source: VGC, Automaton