Aniplex acquires FGO dev team from DW

[Ubergeneral]

https://www.gamerbraves.com/aniplex-...-delightworks/

This is huge news. Aniplex is taking full control of DW and will phase out the development team and replace it with their own by march 2022. It seems some key people will stay but this change of hands means that they still have big long term plans for FGO going into the future.

I think this is a good thing. FGO has long outgrown DW and their ability. Without nasu making decisions for them, they probably would have bungled it as bad as their Sakura Wars games. All this year there have been long droughts of content. I think that DW simply is not able to create the content they envision for FGO. With Aniplex at the helm it's possible the eventually goal is to have more people working to make more content for FGO. There is a huge number of servants the fanbase want in the game and with a better team in charge more of the things they fantasize having as content can become a reality.

What do you think? Do you seem big changes for FGO or is this the beginning of the end?

[Reign]

It's going to be the same staff as before they're just being transferred to a new company, and Aniplex already owned part of GO as-is too. I don't see much changing for good or bad.

[pinetree]

As far as we know this is basically a rebranding move, all the staff will be the same.

[Quoren]

While DW is definitely in over their heads like Gamefreak and cannot even do basic things like complete all animation updates for launch Servants, I'd put the majority of the blame of the game's slow pace and lack of quality events on Nasu. He certainly wants the game to die going by all those interviews. I think he's the one who said we're never returning to peak levels of content. Unless they're going to up the cash enough to make Nasu reconsider, I don't see much changing in terms of overall quality. If anything, they might just convince him to open up to actual outside collabs after Part 2 ends, letting the game just run without any further overarching story or real oversight from him. Though this is Nasu, so all he would need to do is play some video game that inspires him to go back on everything he said and write Part 3.

[OnesFleetingGlory]

Probably in the minority here, but I'm personally satisfied with the current content of FGO. A steady distribution of events let it not disturbing IRL stuff that often. Some minor banners here and there then followed by a major one, which I actually aim for, meaning I could save the Quartz. Then there's big 4* EXP rewards that drops recently in JP, so no need to farm dailies for a while. One thing I'm miffed about is how the coins system works, so hope they change that someday.

That said, I'm worried that the change might affect NA negatively, which I can only find out comes April.

[Leftovers]

Thread title emended.

[Comun]

Linking my relevant post from the general thread:

This is not a people change, it's just a name change. DelightWorks is abandoning its videogame division (presumably because its profitability was laughable compared to stuff like their golf division) and everyone who worked there is reconvening at a new sub-company yet to be named. They're saying all their projects are going to continue as if nothing happened and FGO only gets special mention because it's their flagship.

Same staff, same problems, don't expect any change other than the name you have to yell at. They already answered to Aniplex and Type-Moon before and still answer to Aniplex and Type-Moon now.

[Namelesss]

No Nasu dead game

[pinetree]

Yeah, when Lostbelts end in 2071

[Mattias]

Linking my relevant post from the general thread:

I heard that one of their other gacha games tanked super hard or something, Fire Emblem I think, so the move is to get the actually profitable game as far from that brand while the anger is still high.

Also maybe if they're directly under Aniplex some of the tech issues can be smoothed out easier, but that's just my wishful thinking.

[Petrikow]

Even though the development team for FGO stays basically unchanged, there has to be some reason for the change.

I saw some people speculating that DW having pulled people from the F/GO team towards Sakurai Kakumei essentially sealed their fate? I'm not sure about the validity of those rumors, however.

This is a fairly drastic change. It does signal that for whatever reason, ANIPLEX does not trust DW upper management to handle FGO for them anymore.

[Reign]

I heard that one of their other gacha games tanked super hard or something, Fire Emblem I think, so the move is to get the actually profitable game as far from that brand while the anger is still high.

Also maybe if they're directly under Aniplex some of the tech issues can be smoothed out easier, but that's just my wishful thinking.

I think it was a Sakura Wars thing, and yeah it absolutely crashed.

[OnesFleetingGlory]

Yep, Sakura Kakumei, only lasts for about half a year.

[Comun]

I heard that one of their other gacha games tanked super hard or something, Fire Emblem I think, so the move is to get the actually profitable game as far from that brand while the anger is still high.

Also maybe if they're directly under Aniplex some of the tech issues can be smoothed out easier, but that's just my wishful thinking.

Even though the development team for FGO stays basically unchanged, there has to be some reason for the change.

I saw some people speculating that DW having pulled people from the F/GO team towards Sakurai Kakumei essentially sealed their fate? I'm not sure about the validity of those rumors, however.

This is a fairly drastic change. It does signal that for whatever reason, ANIPLEX does not trust DW upper management to handle FGO for them anymore.

I don't doubt that Sakura Kakumei is the reason why DW's video game division got the boot, but that aside, I feel like you're looking at it from the wrong. The situation involves FGO but isn't about FGO.

It's not wanting to take FGO away from Sakura Kakumei, it's Sakura Kakumei staining DW's reputation so hard it swore off of video games entirely. It's not Aniplex grabbing FGO control away from the incompetents, it's DW getting rid of an entire branch for their personal reasons and Aniplex reconvening the would-be unemployed group so their projects won't be abruptly interrupted.

[rxrx]

Didn't they say DW's golf related business is doing so well that the profit earned from FGO is not worth the trouble it also bring along?

People wonder if TM can still throw their weight around since Aniplex seems to have more say after the move.

[Ubergeneral]

While DW is definitely in over their heads like Gamefreak and cannot even do basic things like complete all animation updates for launch Servants, I'd put the majority of the blame of the game's slow pace and lack of quality events on Nasu. He certainly wants the game to die going by all those interviews. I think he's the one who said we're never returning to peak levels of content. Unless they're going to up the cash enough to make Nasu reconsider, I don't see much changing in terms of overall quality. If anything, they might just convince him to open up to actual outside collabs after Part 2 ends, letting the game just run without any further overarching story or real oversight from him. Though this is Nasu, so all he would need to do is play some video game that inspires him to go back on everything he said and write Part 3.

Nasu says he's done after lostbelts. Considering that FGO has changed hands it implies that nasu was ok with the decision making going to aniplex. If he didn't care then he cared just enough to send to off to people that do. Sure I have no doubt that nasu was still do quality control on stories being written but with it changing hands it seems to imply that FGO isn't dying anytime soon. I'm hopeful actully I think we will get a better game in the long run.

[Synaptic Star]

Didn't they say DW's golf related business is doing so well that the profit earned from FGO is not worth the trouble it also bring along?

DW has golf related business?

[fumei]

Nasu says he's done after lostbelts. Considering that FGO has changed hands it implies that nasu was ok with the decision making going to aniplex. If he didn't care then he cared just enough to send to off to people that do. Sure I have no doubt that nasu was still do quality control on stories being written but with it changing hands it seems to imply that FGO isn't dying anytime soon. I'm hopeful actully I think we will get a better game in the long run.

It didn't change hands, Aniplex were always on the committee.

[Ubergeneral]

Aniplex didn't develop the actual game though. They managed PR, advertising and other stuff. The reason this is significant is because now they have the actual game development as well so they can expand it to have better content. I think that this will mean a bigger team working on the game and more new servants and events.

[Petrikow]

New company name: Rasenguru

Staff stays the same. Ono Yoshinori still in charge.