Danganronpa and Zero Escape creators join forces, launching new, super-team studio

Chances are if you’ve played the Zero Escape games — a trilogy that combines visual novel elements with complex puzzle-solving, all wrapped up in a mind-bending story full of death and murder — you’re also a fan of the similarly blood-splattered, dialogue-oriented Danganronpa franchise.

It’s only fitting that their creators, Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi (of Danganronpa and Zero Escape, respectively) have joined up to form their own indie studio. Too Kyo Games was revealed as part of a Famitsu Magazine livestream earlier today, during which the seven-member team introduced what it currently has in production.

There are four projects in the works at Too Kyo Games thus far, many of which resemble the dark anime style of Danganronpa and Zero Escape. One game will be led by Kodaka and Uchikoshi, and it’s the highest priority at the studio right now. It’s not clear what the game will be about, but expect several teens entangled with murderous spirits in a fantasy world.

The pair are also working on a game that looks cutesy on the outside, but is actually about young kids who are playing a “death game,” according to Famitsu. “It is very shocking.” (Sounds kind of like the original, Japanese Battle Royale, perhaps?)

Too Kyo Games

The last game is actually a collab between Too Kyo and Spike Chunsoft, Kodaka and Uchikoshi’s former employer. It’s based in cyberpunk-styled setting that appears to never stop raining ... but what else is going on is unclear.

Kodaka is also writing an anime that’s based on artsy action films from the 1990s; Studio Pierrot is developing it.

Famitsu has all the images right now, but more images and artwork are likely to appear on the Too Kyo Games website soon. As for Kodaka and Uchikoshi’s previous franchises at Spike Chunsoft? Danganronpa and Zero Escape remain the property of the publisher, although both series seem to have reached natural conclusions. Uchikoshi’s recently announced next game, AI: The Somnium Files, seems likely to remain with the publisher as well.