{"rewrite":{"id":"r_6454019b8a794ce2306a6347","clusterId":"c_32e6030eaa3676527ab6e010","slug":"hundred-line-director-says-srpgs-are-hard-to-pitch-in-planning-meetings","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"HUNDRED LINE Director Says SRPGs Are Hard to Pitch in Planning Meetings","summary":"Togawa, who worked on the SRPG portion of HUNDRED LINE, says the genre is seen as niche despite a growing market. He cites Global Market Statics data putting the 2024 SRPG market at about $1.2 billion, with a 2026 estimate near $1.3 billion, and notes Fire Emblem: Three Houses sold 3.8 million copies. The barrier, he argues, is perceived learning cost, slow tempo, and a \"looks hard\" image that keeps SRPGs from passing internal approval.","whyItMatters":"A veteran SRPG planner argues the genre's real bottleneck is internal perception, not market demand, and points to a negative loop where fewer landmark titles shrink the audience that would approve new ones.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eTogawa, who was scenario director on Persona 5 Tactica and held lead planner roles on Persona Q2 and Persona 5 Royal, says the reaction inside a studio changes the moment the word SRPG comes up. Staff who do not play the genre ask whether the team wants to build one, and management frames it as attacking a quiet corner of the market.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe traces the problem to three barriers: the rules a player must absorb before reaching the fun, battles that can run past 30 minutes, and a \u0026#34;looks hard\u0026#34; image left by traditional, core-oriented entries. The fix is not a trivial easy mode, which reduces play to pressing a button next to an enemy, but casual SRPGs that show the genre\u0026#39;s appeal fast.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"HUNDRED LINE battle director Akihiro Togawa on why SRPGs stall in planning meetings: the genre reads as niche and hard even though the market is growing. His fix is casual SRPGs that show the fun fast, not easy modes that flatten it.","twitterPost":"HUNDRED LINE battle director Akihiro Togawa says SRPGs stall in planning meetings because they read as niche and hard, despite a growing market. His fix: casual SRPGs that show the fun fast, not easy modes that flatten it.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"Akihiro Togawa, battle director on HUNDRED LINE and a veteran of Persona 5 Tactica, argues SRPGs are held back by internal perception rather than demand. He points to a negative loop where fewer landmark titles shrink the audience that would approve new ones, and calls for casual SRPGs that show the genre's appeal quickly.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/interviewsjp/srpg-20260902-464498/\",\"title\":\"Why SRPGs Struggle to Pass Planning Meetings: A HUNDRED LINE Developer on Growing the Genre\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":6311,"outputTokens":5015,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1788331418,"createdAt":"2026-09-02T06:35:43.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-09-02T06:37:23.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-02T06:37:23.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_32e6030eaa3676527ab6e010","canonicalTitle":"「実は作りやすく可能性に満ちているのに、SRPGはなぜゲーム会社の企画会議で通りづらいのか？」『ハンドラ』SRPGパート開発者と考える、市場にSRPGを増やしていくために必要なこと","representativeArticleId":"a_c9ee9795680e5749c301ea03","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"HUNDRED LINE -Last Defense Academy-\"],\"studios\":[\"Tookyo Games\"],\"people\":[\"Akihiro Togawa\"],\"type\":\"op_ed\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-09-02T00:23:56.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-09-02T00:23:56.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-02T06:39:48.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/interviewsjp/srpg-20260902-464498/","title":"「実は作りやすく可能性に満ちているのに、SRPGはなぜゲーム会社の企画会議で通りづらいのか？」『ハンドラ』SRPGパート開発者と考える、市場にSRPGを増やしていくために必要なこと"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["HUNDRED LINE -Last Defense Academy-"],"studios":["Tookyo Games"],"people":["Akihiro Togawa"],"type":"op_ed","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}