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Successor to Witchery Wizardry, or Witchcraft series, the new game published by Drecom Witchery Variants Daphne, temporarily translated, Wizardry Variants Dap hne for PC STEAM has been released on March 6, 2025.

The PC STEAM version of Wizardry Variants Dap hne was released on March 6, 2025, about five months after the iOS and Android versions of the game were released for smartphones. I believe that many gamers are waiting for the PC version of the game, which they can sit down and play at home.

After the game’s bugs and busy servers came to an end, the third wave of the game’s main content, Nerima’s Goyaluda Fortress, was added in February, and it can be said that the game’s content has been very actively updated. It’s a game that’s getting fuller and fuller, and even those who have decided to skip this game should take advantage of the launch of the PC version to get into the world of this game.

This time, we interviewed Keisuke Kanayama, the game director of Drecom, who is in charge of the development of this game, and asked him about the goals of the PC version of the game, reviewing the process from the time it was released to the present time, and what other plans are in store for the game next, etc. We hope that gamers who are interested in this game will not miss out on it.

Variants Daphne Unity Game Director Keisuke Kanayama

The gameplay images shown in this report were taken from a version of the game that is still in development, and may differ from the official game.

Media Today, it’s been five months since the game began service in October 2024, so what’s the response from players so far?

Keisuke Kanayama Hereafter referred to as Kanayama Regarding this point, although we started out with the goal of making a game that people would know about, we’ve had a really great response from players, and the response has far exceeded our original expectations. Even though there were a lot of bugs and problems in the beginning, and there are still some now, it’s because of the enthusiastic support of the players that we’ve been able to achieve what we’ve achieved so far.

Media Is the game being expanded to include more casual players?

Kingsoft That’s true, although the proportion of players who have played 3D labyrinth role-playing games such as Witchery and Demon Remover in the past is still high, there are also younger smartphone role-playing gamers who seem to find it refreshing to play this game because they are tired of playing smartphone games in the current market.

Media This is a difficult game for a smartphone game.

However, we didn’t intentionally make the game very difficult. Strictly speaking, in order to refrain from making the Pi Wei Demon series too harsh for newcomers, we paid special attention to making the game as simple as possible. Therefore, some players may think that this game is too easy for Witchery. That’s why I should say that it’s going to get progressively more difficult, bit by bit.

Media Although there are many players who are not from the Witchery generation, which generation has the most players in terms of attributes?

The largest number of players in Kingsoft are men in their forties, followed by those in their thirties and fifties. Because of this, the age group is a bit higher than that of general smartphone games. Gender is overwhelmingly male, and if you’re looking for female gamers in their twenties, you can probably count them on one hand.

I’ll leave this part of the conversation for later. First of all, I’d like to ask you about the PC version, which will be released on March 6th. The biggest selling point is that you can play the game with a big screen, but is there anything else that’s different from the smartphone version?

Kingsoft Just like you said, because you can play the game with a wide screen, you can see everything that should be invisible at a glance. In addition, the game has a corresponding game controller and keyboard and mouse operation, so players can easily play with their cell phones outside, and then return home to boot up the game with a large screen to enjoy the game.

Media I see. Now that the screen is wider, it should be possible to have all five members of a party in a tavern in the screen.

Kanayama That’s true, and since the scope of what can be depicted has been widened, it might be easier to find locations that glow while exploring, too.

Media The game has already had announcements that it will correspond to cross-platform archiving, so what will happen to Guishi, which is a paid element?

Jinshan green precious stone, that is, Org’s precious stone precious stone is shared by two versions, but purple Erin’s precious stone precious stone, based on the specifications of each store platform, so it can only be used in each platform independent management. However, with the exception of Erin’s Noble Stone purchased from the game’s official store, it can be used regardless of the platform.

Media From the information disclosed on the store page, in addition to Japanese and English, there are also Chinese Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, so is overseas promotion one of the main goals?

Kingsoft Of course it’s one of the goals, because the smartphone version already has about 20-30% of players from overseas, so we’re also looking forward to the PC version will have more overseas players to start.

Media In that case, we can also look forward to the console version of the game.

Kingsoft Although we haven’t considered it yet, we can certainly give it a try if there’s a demand for it. But since this game is aimed at a generation that can no longer play on their living room TVs, it would be better to release it on a portable console.

Media So I’d like to ask you again about the current status and future outlook of the game. First of all, the game had a lot of problems after it was released. After that, it was announced that various measures would be implemented to stabilize the service, so what is the current situation?

Kingsoft Although we’re still only halfway there, we’ve changed the system and it should be normalized to a certain extent now. After the launch of the game, we wanted to rely on the development team to handle both development and management, but we really didn’t have enough manpower to do that.

Media Was the planning too naive at the beginning?

Kanayama That’s true, because at the time, the development team had to be fully engaged in the management of the game, and as a result, there was no way to create additional content for the game. Every day we had to deal with fixing bugs and responding to questions from players, and even the team leaders, who were obviously well versed in the game’s specifications, were so focused on dealing with the problems in front of them that they didn’t notice any new bugs at all.

Now that the number of team members has increased to twice or even 2.5 times the original number, it is possible to separate the development and management teams, with the management team being responsible for the game’s events and activities, as well as fixing bugs that were discovered after the launch of the content, etc. On the other hand, this allows the development team to focus on the game and its content. On the other hand, the development team can now focus on creating Nerima and other side quests.

Media I see, so I can rest easy from now on.

Kanayama Yes, if you look at stability in terms of ten stages, then it was zero at that time, and now it’s at six. Of course, we can’t take it lightly, but the team has been able to calm down and take care of the things that need to be done little by little.

Media Since it was so chaotic at the time, it should have an impact on the future schedule, right?

In fact, the level of change was so high that the game’s post-launch bookings became a blank sheet of paper. There are two reasons for this, one of which, as you pointed out, is that the original schedule was delayed significantly due to the need to keep fixing the game. The other reason is that the response from players has not been what we expected.

Media What do you mean by player response?

Kingsoft The number of players who enjoyed the single-player content was higher than we expected.

Since Drecom has been producing multiplayer online games for a long time, we weren’t sure whether a single-player role-playing game would be commercially successful before the release of this game. That’s why Drecom was planning to expand the multiplayer category after the release of the game.

Media I see, so we’ve stopped adding the multiplayer elements now?

Kanayama: Yes, we have canceled the multiplayer elements for the time being. In fact, the same is true of the Ancient City Ruins event that the game held in December 2024, which not only allowed players to raid difficult areas, but also had another dimension that asked players how it felt to compete with each other like this. The nature of the event exists.

Media The Ruins of the Ancient City event did have a leaderboard element to it, so what was the response from players?

Kingsoft has created a player satisfaction chart through a questionnaire afterwards, but the response to the Fastest Explorers chart, where the fastest player wins, was not very positive. On the other hand, the area-specific explorer chart, which compares actual speed, is somewhat more enjoyable.

In the future, we will not be using direct player-versus-player content, but rather content that centers on a specific type of record-keeping to compete with each other.

Media In that case, what about the King’s Rescue Challenge that 4Gamer hosted previously? It only took the best players three days to complete the challenge.

Kingsoft It’s amazing how much faster than we expected it to be. We were expecting it to take a day to play the game, even if we were playing it all the time except for sleep, but it’s actually been much faster than that. Although the game has only been out for a short time and is still having problems one after another, overall it should be a very well-received event by players.

Media The speed of play is really extraordinary.

Kingsoft It can be said that unlike the first-come-first-served leaderboards used in the game, the fast-pass culture of the early Nintendo console era is the best thing about this kind of event. It’s like talking to your friends about what level you’ve reached in the middle of a school day. It’s like talking to your friends at the end of the school day about what level did you get to? From the perspective of modern times, where information can be exchanged over the internet, it’s probably an idyllic culture.

Media From this point of view, even without multiplayer content, it’s possible to create a sense of unity between players.

Kanayama It’s great to be able to play the game on your own, but we think that exchanging information with other people and pooling your wisdom is one of the best things about single-player games. That’s why we’re hoping to make this a game with that old-fashioned flavor.

Media Next, I’d like to ask you about your plans for future updates to the game. Since the third Naiad, the Goyaluda Fortress, was added on February 20th, have you thought about the overall content policy?

Kanayama As I mentioned earlier, we want to emphasize content that can be played alone in the future. In addition, in order to minimize the boredom of players, we’re taking a step-by-step approach to gradually destroying the expected updates such as the addition of new adventurers and the monthly game events.

Media: What do you mean by spoilers?

Kanayama: For example, we’ve added some strange content out of the blue, or we’ve provided content to players from a different perspective than usual. The Valentine’s Day event was one of them, and I wanted to surprise players with content that no one could have imagined.

It’s really not something you would normally associate with Valentine’s Day in Witchery.

Kingsoft That said, fortunately, most of the players seemed to enjoy the event very much, so we hope to continue to add this kind of fun content in the future. We hope that we can continue to add this kind of fun content in the future, although it’s usually stopped by the fact that the feedback isn’t high enough.

Media The director of Kingsoft is supposed to be in a position to stop this kind of thing, right?

Kanayama Because I’m the kind of person who deliberately takes the difficult path, and I think that entertainment is boring if it doesn’t have fresh surprises. That’s why I always try to make sure that the company is not going to be surprised by Variants Daphne, which is a game like that! So I’ve been trying to convince the company to let us put in the development of a game that’s not supposed to be very rewarding,” he says.

The media So that’s it?

Kingsoft Of course, there’s no room for surprises, but the basis is still to include the signature of the genre, the content that players want to see. I like the same old content, so I’m not going to waver on that, but if you rely on surprises, it’s going to be just as boring.

I’m sure that’s true about the media. Do you have any thoughts on the long-term development roadmap?

Kanayama: Because the design of the Ten Aliens, the main characters that are scheduled to appear in the game’s main story, Nerima, is almost complete, the Nerima are scheduled to be added one after another in order of their defeat until the end of the first part of the game. However, since the original plan has been reduced to a blank sheet of paper, adjustments will have to be made depending on the player’s response.

Media: What will the next Nanoha be like? Is there anything you can reveal right now?

Kanayama: If you’ve played Fortress Gwalior, you should be able to predict what kind of content will be in the next Nerima, so we’re asking you to look for clues from that. In addition to that, I should say that since Gwalior Fortress features a story that emphasizes masculinity, the content of the next Nerima will be a bit more stable and quiet in comparison.

Media So the theme of each Nara is different.

Kanayama: It’s not so much the theme as it is the pacing of the game. We’re trying to make the game as monotonous as possible by having action scenes followed by a suspenseful story. That said, because the overall story development has already had a skeleton in the closet, things like the mystery of Lulunati, the masked adventurer, and the future of the kingdom and the princess will still be the main focus of the future story.

Media: When will the game be released?

Kanayama We haven’t been able to specify a date yet, but we’re hoping to add the game at least this year. If possible, we would like to update the story about three to four times a year, but the development of Goyaluda Fortress is a lot of work. It would be nice if we could increase the speed of development by increasing the number of development team members, but as it stands now, we’re basically burning our lives on the line,” he smiled bitterly.

Media: I’m going to have to ask you all to keep working as hard as you can without burning to the ground.

Even if we burn to the ground, we’ll still be able to survive as long as we don’t lose everything. One of Drecom’s corporate missions is to exceed people’s expectations, so if we meet those expectations, it’s only 50 points.

Does the press mean that the original goal has not yet been achieved?

Kingsoft Basically, in this market, if we don’t deliver 80% of the results, we will probably be eliminated immediately, which can be said to be quite a horrible situation. So it’s something that we can’t do anything about in order to survive,” he said, smiling bitterly.

That said, since we don’t think we can be considered a completed team that can accurately deliver a report card of 80 or even 90 points, for the time being, we can only explore new paths, that is to say, more difficult paths, in order to be able to do so. The aforementioned policy of not giving high returns to surprise players is actually one of them. This is the only way to convince yourself that you can continue to work hard ah laugh.

Media What about outside of the main story? We’ve already talked about the Valentine’s Day event.

Kingsoft should continue to launch some kind of event every month, because players will feel miserable if they don’t have content to play, and more content is necessary to fill the time gap between the main story. Although it’s still just the original concept level, there will be a desire to introduce challenge content that limits the composition of the team, or so-called large group RAID content that allows all players to challenge the same leader together.

Media Incidentally, at the end of October 2024, the launch of the lights of resentment tentative translation, the lights of resentment, and in January this year, organized by the Secret Treasure of the Fredregal tentative translation, Secret Treasure, the player’s response and how it is?

Kingsford The Lamp of Contempt had a lot of problems, and I should say that we caused a lot of trouble for the players. However, in the secret treasure of Frederig, it has been improved, and also won the praise of the players, so in the future, we will also hope to organize this kind of treasure hunting activities.

Media What about other aspects of the event? Are you considering any additions or changes to the game system?

Kingsoft Although we have to wait for the current work to be completed, we would like to add a system that can provide more risks for the loyal players of Witchery and Demon Removal in the past years.

I think that’s the part of the game that’s going to become more difficult, as I mentioned at the beginning, right?

Kingsgate Yeah, it’s because it’s just too easy for loyal players from previous years, I guess. Of course, in order to make sure that new players don’t feel overwhelmed, so they will try to do a good job of separating the zones. It’s just that I don’t really want to use a simple difficulty selection system, but I hope to design something more varied.

Media Since the stakes have been raised upwards, the rewards will naturally increase as well, right?

Kanayama As you might expect, if there’s only risk and no reward, then the game would be too unpleasant to play. After an adventure that will make your palms sweat, and an adventure where you get a lot of rewards if you succeed, and if you fail, you’re at your own peril, I think that balance is the best setting.

Media I see, but while I understand the idea, it’s hard to adjust. If the reward is too big, it might make the players unhappy.

Kingsoft That’s true, but since this is a 辟邪除妖 game, there are limits to how far you can lower the bar. It’s also surprising that so many players from different ethnic groups are participating in this game. This is of course something to be happy about, but we hope that we won’t be limited by it.

Media We mentioned earlier that we would be focusing on single player content, but do you have any thoughts on player versus player PvP or guild elements?

Kanayama: Actually, we were planning a battle arena type of content that would allow players to play against each other, but we’ve put that on hold for now. But we’ve put that on hold for now, because I really don’t think that the players of this game are looking forward to that kind of content. As for the guild system, we are also preparing for it, but on the other hand, we feel that players should not like to be restricted too much.

Media There are some annoying parts of the game.

Kingsoft That’s right, we think we understand and value the player’s feelings, so long live single-player games.

Media I understand. In addition to that, the game also announced a collaboration with BLADE BASTARD, can you tell us about the collaboration?

Kanayama: I’m pretty sure there will be co-op characters and specialized mazes, but since this is the first co-op event we’ve ever held, we originally planned to use some typical traditional content, but the development team members have shown a lot more energy than we expected. The content is currently being tweaked, and whether it’s good or bad, it’s actually quite dangerous.

Media Will the co-op characters be obtained by spinning eggs?

Kanayama Yes, they will be obtained from the eggs, because people still want to adventure with these characters. But even if you don’t draw eggs, you can still play the co-op quests and so on, so you can rest assured about that. We’ll also be using content where both characters interact with each other, so we’ll be looking forward to that.

Media Since BLADE BASTARD is originally based on the Witchery worldview, it should be a perfect match for this game. On the other hand, what other collaborative activities would you like to organize in the future?

As expected, Kingsoft had to prioritize works that would fit in with the Witchery game and its worldview. I think we can come up with a lot of alternatives, but even so, I hope that we can pick something that will surprise the players.

Media Is it possible to understand that the game will actively cooperate with works from other fields?

Kanayama No problem, but I expect that we will try to avoid collaborating with works that may be unacceptable to players and that may ruin the game’s worldview. On that premise, I will try to maximize the amount of surprises for the players. For example, it might be fun to suddenly introduce a collaborative character without disclosing it beforehand.

Media: Although from a promotional standpoint, this is a bit of a downer, I guess.

Kanayama But from our standpoint, we’re more interested in how we can provide fun for the people who are playing the game now than how outsiders see it. Since co-op is a content that tends to be polarized in terms of evaluation, I think it’s important to deliberately try something new.

Media Although it may be a bit too subjective, I’d like to confirm some details. The main thing is that I’m not satisfied with the logic of the auto-battle, so I’d like to know if there are any plans to change it.

Kanayama: That’s something we’re working on right now, and it’s scheduled to be added to the game in a little while. It’s not like it’s going to suddenly become very smart, but at least there won’t be any more situations where you have to run up and beat up the enemy along with your defender.

Will the balance continue to be maintained in the future, given that it’s difficult for the media to get the transfer guides they want?

Basically, we’re trying to play as hard as possible or use precious stones to shorten the time for all the rewards. However, in reality, there are some cases where this policy has not been realized. It is also true that the supply of Transfer Guides is not sufficient, so we will temporarily increase the supply during the February event.

In the future, in order to increase the freedom of the game, there will be more opportunities to obtain them, but they will still be a very expensive item. We hope that the adjustment will take into account the overall balance of the game, but at the same time avoid a decrease in the value of the item.

Media: Apart from the above, what other areas have players commented on?

Kingsoft There have been a lot of comments related to resource management, such as increasing the possession limit of equipment and adventurers, or making the selling and withdrawing process smoother. We’ve already started working on this, so please look forward to the game’s next update. We also hope to increase the number of professions that can be transferred, or that the skills that level up when inherited are a bit too concentrated, and so on.

Media It seems that the players’ opinions have all been taken into consideration.

Kingsoft That’s true, but while we do take players’ opinions into account, we basically rely on the development team’s own subjective views and statistics, so whether or not we adopt them depends on the individual case. For example, we will first investigate how many players have so many items that they are full, and even if we don’t have the information, we will make changes to the areas that we feel should be done better.

Media So when you want to give advice to the game management team, what is the best way to do it?

Kingsoft Since we have been posting on confirmed social media sites, it’s fine to respond directly to the game’s official account, and of course, we can also provide assistance through questionnaires that we’ll be conducting in the future. Even if you don’t do anything, we’ll still be accumulating statistics, so even if you don’t care about that, just play the game properly and you’ll be fine.

Media That’s true.

Kingsoft appreciates the feedback we get from playing the game, as well as the feedback from secondary creators, and the messages of support and encouragement we get from players. It’s really energizing to see players noticing the details we’ve put into the game, such as character expressions and the dirt system. For example, when Lulunati makes her entrance, she turns around and so on.

Media: Lulunati’s entrance is a very impressive scene. I think it’s because of that scene that Lulunati’s image was stabilized.

Kanayama: Because the whole team was in a state of exhaustion, there was a feeling that it was really necessary to do that. But if you give up on it because of that, it’s only going to be a five out of ten, and we have to be able to exceed the expectations of the players at all times.

Media I see, that’s the part that makes the feedback bad, right?

Kanayama Yes, it’s hard to say whether or not this persistence is beneficial to the company, and even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t make the game unplayable. But even so, we still need to be able to advocate for the company and the team members so that is the right answer, the best way is that the players have a response to these places ah.

Media I understand. Although the topic has strayed a bit from the game itself, have you thought about any lateral development? For example, have you thought about releasing a multimedia work or a peripheral product?

Kanayama: Since we’re not relying solely on Witchery, but rather on the idea of making Witchery Variants Daphne a series, we’d like to try a multimedia project someday. As for the peripheral merchandise, which has already been discussed, both of these are options that should be available to players if they want them.

Media So it’s also something that can be realized by posting it on a social networking site?

Kingsoft Indeed it is, and I suppose there’s a decent chance that it’s going to happen now. Because the response from players has been better than expected, this game is currently receiving a lot of attention within the company. Now that the game’s revenue is expected to be somewhat higher, it’s the easiest time to adopt a medium- to long-term policy.

Media Speaking from a gamer’s standpoint, that’s a pretty solid statement to make. If it can be fired up enough to get into the popular keywords .

If that’s the case, then I’ll go to the president myself and negotiate for the budget. I’ll go to the president and ask for the budget! You can see that it’s already developed into an amazing situation on the internet! Laughing .

The media is really looking forward to this, and I’d like to conclude by talking about my future ambitions and saying a few words to those of you who are playing Witchery Variants Daphne.

Kingsoft Development is a difficult path, and we’ve been working hard to survive in the market. Seeing how much everyone is enjoying the game is a great source of nourishment for our team, and translates into motivation that makes us want to exceed those expectations. Thanks to all of you, we haven’t had a single hard day so far, and we’re smiling.

Although we have to work hard all the time, in order to continue expanding the fascinating world of Warding off Evil and Demons Variants Daphne, we are going to keep investing in things that don’t give us a lot of return. So please keep cheering us on from now on.

Thank you very much for the interview today.