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In February 2020, Koei Tecmo announced that Gust brand senior manager Junzo Hosoi, the producer of Atelier Ryza and Atelier Lulua, would be promoted to the position of Gust brand manager effective April 1, 2020. In an interview with Famitsu, Hosoi, alongside fellow Gust creator Akira Tsuchiya, talked about his upcoming position and how there are many unannounced titles in the works.
Here are the highlights:
We’re jumping into things quick here, but I’d like to hear about your passion for leading the Gust brand from here on out. How confident are you?
Junzo Hosoi, Gust brand manager: If you had to ask whether I’m confident or not, I wouldn’t say I have unshakable confidence in myself going forward. [laughs] I’ve seen how much work the previous brand manager Koinuma (Hisashi Koinuma, Koei Tecmo president) and deputy brand manager Keisuke Kikuchi (Nights of Azure series producer) had to do, so I can imagine to an extent just what sort of tasks await me, but it’ll getting started on that work myself will likely be a tough process. On that aspect, I can’t say much without actually trying it out. However, I am prepared to do everything properly to the end when I start on the job.
Now that you’re the brand manager, will you be stepping away from the development frontlines?
Hosoi: While I’ll rely on reliable staff to run development, going forward I’ll still take responsibility and work together with the development team. Even now, there are several unannounced new titles in the works, including a game developed together with Tsuchiya.
Other highlights:
On Blue Reflection:
Hosoi: Blue Reflection was the first game I was the producer of, and it was a completely brand-new title that Mel Kishida and I worked together on while going through the process of trial and error. I’m still working together with Kishida-san even now, and utilizing the know-how cultivated from the development of Blue Reflection in a practical manner. I hope you can look forward to this…!
Final Thoughts:
Hosoi: I’d like to say this again, but there are several unannounced Gust brand new titles in the works, and I hope you’ll look forward to them. Also, I’ll be working together closely with Tsuchiya on both game development on product lineups.
Akira Tsuchiya, Gust developer and Gust Shop manager: I think about what we’re going to do over the next year every day. While it’s tough, I believe there’s no way except to keep challenging myself, and I hope fans will continue to look after me in the future as well.
You can read a previous interview Siliconera conducted with Junzo Hosoi on Atelier Ryza here.
