Inafune says Kaio: King of Pirates is still in development, trilogy still planned, appealing to the west
Kaio: King of Pirates is an odd case. Despite having announced the game a year and a half ago, relatively little has been shared by developer Comcept and publisher Marvelous AQL.
But don’t work: Kaio is still coming. Comcept CEO Keiji Inafune told Siliconera that development is “going well”, though because a manga and anime are also involved, “we can’t just show the game.”
“Marvelous AQL is the publisher and there are plans to make a manga and anime. At Comcept, we’re producing the game and it’s going well. There is a total effort with all of these collaborators for the Kaio intellectual property, so we can’t just show the game. It’s basically not our choice.”
Inafune also reconfirmed plans for a trilogy:
“You know the original story, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is a long story. The way I recreated it for Kaio it’s a three part story. That’s still the plan.”
Finally, Inafune talked about appealing to the west with Kaio:
“I feel that Kaio will appeal to America and the Western world since the story is unique and its immersive. I’m a fan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and it’s a great story. If you take it as a Chinese war story, it’s hard to get into if you’re from the West. With Kaio, I recreated it with a pirate theme and the characters are all animals. It’s easier for people to get into since it’s totally recreated.
“Dragonball is a good example since it’s based on a Chinese story, Journey to the West, too, but you don’t really think about that. You take it for granted that the story is Dragonball and later on you find out that it’s based on a Chinese story. I hope Kaio will do the same.”
