Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino recently shared insights with Famitsu regarding the studio’s latest projects, including Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road — which marked the series’ return after a ten-year hiatus — and the Japan-exclusive mobile title Inazuma Eleven Cross. Hino discussed the challenges of ensuring that the newest mainline Inazuma Eleven installment would resonate with a fanbase that had grown significantly older since the franchise’s earlier days. He noted that the development of Megaton Musashi had a profoundly positive impact on him and, consequently, on Victory Road itself.
Megaton Musashi, a mecha hack-and-slash RPG, first launched in Japan in 2021, followed by its definitive global release, Megaton Musashi W: Wired, in 2024. Reflecting on its creation, Hino humorously described the project as a form of “emotional rehabilitation.” He explained that while working on the game, he rediscovered his approach to connecting with players, asking himself “what it means to truly engage with your audience.”
“It’s not about striving for big sales; it’s about pouring our hearts into a project if even one person is eagerly awaiting it. I realized that’s the only way it should be,” Hino stated. “At the time, there were fans on YouTube who consistently created content about Level-5 games, and I found myself making the game for them. I believe that’s the essence of entertainment: if you’re not creating something for someone, you won’t produce anything truly great.
To illustrate his point, Hino referenced the Professor Layton series, which Level-5 developed with the concept of “making a game mothers would enjoy.” In his view, he considers projects created with a specific individual in mind to be the key to achieving success. Although this has always been his mindset, Hino said Megaton Musashi helped him understand the importance of visualizing his target audience more clearly. “I constantly imagined the people who had been waiting for the game and deeply considered what would bring them joy or emotional resonance. After its release, seeing their positive reactions made me think, ‘We can make Victory Road work too.’”
Notably, Hino mentioned that despite its ups and downs, the actual development time for Inazuma Eleven Victory Road was shorter than its numerous delays implied. He attributed Level-5’s success to their ability to clearly define “who” they were creating the game for by that point.