The developer team of Too Kyo Games went all in when they released their latest game on Steam. The success of the title was so great that it pulled the company out of the red – and saved it from bankruptcy.
What kind of game is this? The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy is a mix of strategy game and visual novel. If the character design seems familiar, there’s a reason for that: The development studio consists of former employees of Spike Chunsoft, who are responsible for titles like Danganronpa.
In the game, Tokyo is invaded by monsters. The boy Takumi Sumino is offered the chance to save his loved ones, if he kills himself for it. Shortly after, he wakes up in a school that he must defend along with 14 other students for 100 days.
In strategic RPG battles, the monsters must then be stopped. When not engaged in beating up monsters, the player spends time with the other students. Takumi’s decisions determine the course of the game.
Game with 100 endings saves developer from bankruptcy
Why was the studio facing bankruptcy? The Hundred Line is admittedly partly responsible for the studio’s looming bankruptcy. The project was supposed to be as big as Cyberpunk 2077 or GTA 6. The studio had high ambitions.
In advance, CEO Kazutaka Kodaka stated that the game had to be a success, otherwise the development team would be history. The developer had borrowed money from everywhere, as Bloomberg reports, to finance the costly 5-year development.
One reason for this effort in development may be the 100 endings specifically created for the game. For each ending, a different story writer was to be employed. This is also evident in the individual routes: sometimes there are rather funny paths full of humor, sometimes rather dark routes with murder and mayhem.
How did it help? On Steam, the title has a rating of “Very Positive” and scores 88%. The title has convinced players, which benefits the developer team. Kodaka reveals that the game is selling so well that he does not foresee bankruptcy in the near future.
Even better: The developer team even plans to add more endings to the game. The game already has so many dialogues that some countries are not interested in translation. There is so much text that it could print 60 paperback novels: A new game on Steam has so many dialogues and text that some countries are not interested in translation, but players love it anyway
