Despite a troubled development cycle, Cygames exceeded expectations and delivered a great game in Granblue Fantasy: Relink. Read on to learn more about the game’s development cycle, changes over its tumultuous history, and how it came to be.
Granblue Fantasy Relink’s Rocky Development History
Granblue Fantasy Relink is riding high on its success currently, and it's all thanks to having a great gameplay loop and experience along with its colorful cast of characters from the popular franchise. However, this success did come at the expense of being years in the making, as the game quite literally took nine years to finally be released. Let’s take a step back and look at the game’s inception, and what history tells us about its progress throughout the years.
Nine Years In The Making Through All The Difficulties
2016 - First Reveal
Back in 2016, the game was first revealed as Granblue Fantasy Project Re:Link. It was going to be an action RPG under the Granblue Fantasy banner to be developed by Cygames in collaboration with Platinum Games, who is a company known for developing popular action titles like the Bayonetta series, Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, and more.
From its inception to its current release, it was largely the same concept that we all know today. It is a 4-player co-op-based action RPG title that focuses largely on combos and skill chaining with your fellow party members. Additionally, they also added the option of going solo with 3 AI companions for your party as its single-player scenario mode.
Cygames wanted to be careful about making the game too difficult and wanted it to be a big-scale title featuring their hit mobile game for its first foray into consoles. At the time, Platinum Games even called it their "first console game based on an extremely popular smartphone franchise," in a now deleted blog post.
They also planned for the game to influence the mobile game as well, but were still in its planning stage at the time. It was planned to be released in 2018 on the PlayStation 4, exclusively in Japan.
2017 - More Gameplay Showcase
Granblue Fantasy Project Re:Link’s gameplay was showcased several times with new screenshots and a new gameplay trailer in Granblue Fantasy Fes 2017. This showcased four different characters Katalina, Io, Percival, and Rackam, all together fighting a horde of goblins. They make use of existing skills and abilities in the mobile game, as well as coming together to unleash a successful Chain Burst to defeat the enemies. At this time, it was still planned for a 2018 release date but had no exact date in their press release.
2018 - Bigger Than They Thought
It was around the start of 2018 that Granblue Fantasy director, Fukuhara Tetsuya, stated that the development of the game was on a much larger scale than originally planned. Although no delays have been announced yet, more details about the game will be revealed at Granblue Fantasy Fes 2018 which was on December 15-16. At this time, Cygames was not only co-developing Relink with Platinum Games, but was also developing Granblue Fantasy Versus.
During Granblue Fantasy Fes 2018, they announced a multitude of things including localization, its story being a connection to the main story of the mobile game, the teased number of playable characters, and more. The trailer above shows one of the early parts of the game showing one of the Primal Beasts in the game by the name of Furycane.
It was at this point that the game was renamed to Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and at the end of it all, there was still no exact release date to be mentioned.
2019 - Cygames Goes Solo
It was announced early in 2019 that Platinum Games would no longer be working with Cygames on Granblue Fantasy Relink. Cygames made a statement saying:
"Tokyo-based video game publisher and developer Cygames, Inc. (HQ: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President: Koichi Watanabe, hereinafter referred as “Cygames”) has recently been engaged in the co-development of the upcoming console game Granblue Fantasy: Relink together with esteemed developer PlatinumGames Inc.
Going forward, Cygames will handle 100 percent of development internally."
They also assured everyone that they are committed to delivering on the expectations of the fans and gamers everywhere on their action-RPG title.
Likewise, Platinum Games had this to say in their statement:
"While we, PlatinumGames, have been working with Cygames in co-development of the upcoming console game Granblue Fantasy: Relink, we officially announce our contract on the project has come to an end. Development will still continue, but be handled solely by Cygames’ internal development team."
They also expressed gratitude to the fans and asked that they continue to support Granblue Fantasy: Relink in its production.
It was understood that the game would be delayed quite a bit during this time, and Fukuhara also stated that the project became "more and more massive" and that they "didn’t want to make compromises on the quality." It was in Granblue Fantasy Fes 2019 that they showcased a new trailer featuring new characters such as Lancelot, and Vane, as well as Siegfried in a new multiplayer-focused trailer and gameplay footage.
Looking at the 2019 gameplay footage, it was already close to the current game that players are experiencing now. However, there was still a lot more polish that needed to be done according to Cygames, as they didn’t want the game to be delayed yet again. At this time, Cygames had now focused their efforts on moving the project to their Osaka branch and had as much manpower as they had when they were still partnered with Platinum Games. Cygames also said that "development speed is expected to further increase," further down the line.
2020 - Inevitable Delay
It was in Granblue Fantasy Fes 2020 when Cygames officially announced that the game will be delayed until 2022. Cygames was also transparent to show their process and how far along they were in the development cycle. Due to the split with Platinum Games as well as the move to the Osaka branch, the team had to restructure their workflow and wanted to ensure that they weren’t rushing their development so as to ensure the quality of the game.
They focused on refining and optimizing the game’s engine and as a result, they greatly increased the efficiency of development, especially towards the game’s graphics. At this point, they were starting to begin development on the other parts of the game as well as PlayStation 5 support where they said they were nearing the end of development and going all in on asset creation.
A big thing Cygames wanted to focus on was the graphics of the game, and the emphasis on making the art of Granblue Fantasy come to life. While the game was in its Alpha stage of development, it was still on track for a 2022 release date as mentioned in Granblue Fantasy Fes 2020, and Cygames really wanted to focus on quality first rather than rushing the game out as scheduled.
2021-22 - PC Port and More Details Revealed, But Another Delay Was Needed
It was in 2021 and 2022 that they unveiled more story details, playable characters, and how the game will play. The Skyfaring crew as well as how the game’s story and quests will function was shown during Granblue Fantasy Fes 2021. This is where Cygames showed the teaser trailer for the game as well, stating the release date to be 2022 worldwide.
However midway through 2022, specifically in June, Cygames announced that the game will be delayed yet again. Granblue Fantasy Producer Yuito Kimura had this to say:
"The development team has been hard at work getting Granblue Fantasy: Relink ready for its target release date in 2022. We understand the excitement players have for this game, so it is with utmost regret that we announce that the release date will be pushed back a second time to 2023."
He stated that while the main reason would be the global pandemic of COVID-19, they all made an effort to make up for lost time. In the end, they opted to delay the release again for further polish and optimization.
"All graphical resources, scenario pieces, voices, music, and other assets are in a completed state. At this stage, we are focused on refining gameplay balance, debugging, improving audio and graphical fidelity, and making general improvements to the overall experience. We would like to ask for a little more of your patience."
2023 - We’re Almost There, But Not Quite There Yet
Early in 2023, Cygames showed a new trailer showing off a brand new character for Granblue Fantasy: Relink by the name of Id as well as new playable characters in Narmaya, Yodarha, and Charlotta. To add to this, there was a 10-minute playable demo in Granblue Fantasy Fes 2022-2023, which had all the playable characters shown till that time.
It was in August 2023, when they finally confirmed a delay and the game to finally come out in February 2024 in a new release date trailer. In September 2023, two new trailers were released showing Zeta, Vaseraga, and Ghandagoza as well as additional gameplay footage. Fukuhara also stated at this time that these weren’t their final announcements as there were more crewmates to be revealed.
Throughout the year they showcased more details about the game’s story, characters, and more. It was in December 2023 that they confirmed a playable demo on January 11, 2024, as well as free updates for post-launch content. Moreover, they confirmed the inclusion of three new characters with Cagliostro on release, and Seofon and Tweyen coming in their first post-launch content update in April.
2024 - It’s Time To Take To The Skies
After all the delays, time, and effort that Cygames put into the game, Granblue Fantasy: Relink was finally released on February 1, 2024. The game came out with generally favorable scores from critics scoring an 80 in its Metascore and 8.6 User Rating on Metacritic. Moreover, the game hit a peak of 112k players playing on a single day. A feat that was not done by any other Japanese RPG game other than Monster Hunter.
The game boasts a wonderful gameplay loop and a great story. Progression is similar and a combination of God Eater and Monster Hunter as you upgrade your characters, weapons, and "Sigils."
To read our review of the game, click the link below!
Development Hell Is Real, But It’s Not The End
If you’ve managed to read this far, then you’re already familiar with the game’s turbulent history of development. It faced delay after delay after delay, but Cygames managed to release the game in an excellent state. While in a logistical standpoint, delays are not good for anyone, most especially the ones making the product, if the intention is to deliver a completely polished project then it might just be the better option to do so. Despite all the turbulence with the structural shift of work, the pandemic, and development troubles, Cygames exceeded expectations and was able to give the fans what they wanted.
Cygames even confirmed in an interview with Gematsu back in 2023 that there was no falling out between Platinum Games and themselves, as it was particularly a business decision as both companies decided that the scheduling was going to be in conflict. Cygames decided that there was content in the game that they should be handling alone since Platinum Games had a number of games lined up for development as well, and couldn’t put all hands on deck for the Granblue project. With their conflicting schedules in mind, It was a mutual decision for both companies to part ways from the project.
Not every game company or studio has the luxury of time or budget to push back intended schedules or even create something on time. The reality is that a lot of things can change throughout the years. A game that was originally supposed to come out for the PS4 exclusively in Japan, can have a worldwide release for both the PS5 and PC in a matter of years. While this wasn’t the original plan to do so, sometimes sticking to your guns is the best course of action.
In this case – Cygames stuck to theirs and managed to pull it off.
Sources:
YouTube - Havian - How Granblue Fantasy: Relink's Gameplay Improved
Gematsu - Granblue Fantasy Project Re:Link Reveal 2016
Platinum Games - Regarding Conclusion of the Development Contract for Granblue Fantasy Relink
Gematsu - Granblue Fantasy Relink – behind the scenes of game development at Cygames Osaka
Gematsu - GRANBLUE FANTASY RELINK ADDS PC VERSION; LATEST DETAILS AND TEASER TRAILER
Gematsu - Granblue Fantasy Relink delayed to 2023
Gematsu - INTERVIEW WITH TETSUYA FUKUHARA AND YASUYUKI KAJI
PlayStation Blog - Granblue Fantasy Relink devs discuss crafting an immersive RPG world for PS5 & PS4, out Feb 1
