19th volume of “Developer’s Backyard” (12/26/2025 Release)
- Featured articles
Hello everyone, this is Miyauchi, Producer of GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE-.
As we approach the end of 2025, I would like to sincerely thank all of you who have continued to play GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- and share your thoughts and feedback with us throughout the year.
On December 18, Lucy joined the roster in GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- Nintendo Switch Edition, bringing all content updates planned for this year to their completion.
At present, the development team has already begun working steadily toward the next major update planned for next year: Version 2.0.
While we are not able to share specific details about Version 2.0 here, it also felt a little lonely to head into the end of the year without sharing anything at all.
So today, as a year-end message, I would like to briefly look back on Lucy—the final character added in Season 4—and share a small glimpse into the intentions and development philosophy behind Version 2.0.
Elite hacker, cyberspace surfer
The Mysterious Netrunner
Ease of Use: ★★★★☆
Battle Type：Balance
■Name: Lucy (CV: Emi Lo)
■Origin: Poland
■Characteristics:
Lucy turns heads with her mysterious aura and pastel-gradient hair, but her icy attitude keeps most people at arm's length.
Information on her is scarce, meaning her identity and past are largely unknown. In combat, she wields a monowire – a whip-like cybernetic weapon capable of restraining and even dismembering enemies. Agility and hacking skills also serve as formidable parts of her arsenal.
Her memory loss may be a temporary side effect of traveling to this world.
[Outline]
Lucy is a netrunner based in a place called Night City. Netrunners use their expertise in computer systems and programming to access and manipulate information within networks (at times employing illegal methods). One advanced method to access and navigate these networks is known as a "deep dive".
During her most recent deep dive into the Net, Lucy's soul somehow strayed into the Backyard. Fortunately, Asuka R. Kreutz found her adrift. He was able to provide a temporary vessel to safely tether her soul to this world.
Lucy met Sol and Axl, among others, before eventually returning home through a gate of Asuka's creation.
Lucy is, as many of you know, a character from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
We imagine that many players were inspired to watch the original anime after her guest appearance.
When designing Lucy for Guilty Gear -Strive-, we wanted her to be approachable even for players who are new to the game.
She was designed as a high-standard character, equipped with fundamental tools such as projectiles, advancing attacks, and invincible options, while excelling in mid-range combat.
From the early stages of development, we had extensive discussions with Satoru Homma, Japan Country Manager at CD PROJEKT RED and Producer of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, about what Lucy should be like as a fighting game character.
When looking strictly at her actions in the original work, the range of movements that translate directly into a fighting game is fairly limited.
As a result, we needed to expand upon the source material with our own interpretations, carefully defining boundaries—such as allowing kicking attacks while avoiding bare-knuckle brawling—and confirming each decision step by step.
Elements like the Monowire and Quickhacks were features we wanted Lucy to use from the very beginning, even before fine-tuning the battle design.
In particular, for the Monowire, we carefully discussed how far its original depiction could be adapted, including how much of its original impact could be expressed.
During the concept phase, a variety of ideas were explored, such as having Lucy hack summoned drones or machines to cause explosions, or allowing hacking to interact not only with characters but also with projectiles.
Mr. Homma also suggested ideas like Lucy borrowing Rebecca’s shotgun for attacks.
We paid special attention to recreating Quickhacks.
The HUD design was entirely rebuilt by the Guilty Gear team based on the UI seen in Cyberpunk 2077, and the text displayed within the HUD switches appropriately depending on the selected language, using fonts faithful to the original.
For the hacking icons, we newly created designs inspired by six types of Quickhacks as well as the Short Nerve Circuit effect, all carefully reimagined within Guilty Gear -Strive-.
With official sound assets provided by the Cyberpunk 2077 development team and their supervision, we were able to faithfully recreate the feel of Quickhacks down to the smallest details.
Once again, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone at CD PROJEKT RED for their generous cooperation.
Through the development of Lucy, our team revisited important questions such as:
“How can we make the game enjoyable even for players experiencing it for the first time?”
and
“How can we create new experiences while preserving what makes the series feel like GUILTY GEAR?”
These perspectives have become one of the key pillars guiding our work on Version 2.0.
Future Updates
With Version 2.0 and beyond, our goal is not simply to adjust characters or add new content, but to prepare updates that offer a refreshed overall experience—one that feels engaging, almost like picking up a new game.
This does not mean that everything will change all at once.
Rather, we see Version 2.0 as a milestone: an opportunity to review and refine what we have built so far, and to take the next step forward for Guilty Gear -Strive-.
Playable Characters
Regarding character development, we are planning to add one new playable character as part of the Version 2.0 update.
In the trailer revealed at Evo 2025, we briefly touched on upcoming characters.
Including those, we expect to deliver new playable characters gradually, and we also plan to continue adding characters in updates beyond Version 2.0.
Specific timing and details will be shared at a later date.
Battle Balance Philosophy
As updates have accumulated over time, we recognize that—particularly through universal mechanics—the overall level of character performance has gradually increased.
For Version 2.0, our first priority is to bring these heightened performance levels back to an appropriate range, with the goal of establishing a battle environment that functions in a healthier and more stable way overall.
From there, we will review elements where the balance between risk and reward has become unclear, as well as areas where gameplay has tended to favor overly specific actions or choices, resulting in a narrower range of decision-making.
In particular, regarding Wild Assault, we are reassessing its role and position as an universal mechanic, taking into account how the environment has evolved since its introduction.
From the perspective of making the game easier to understand and more satisfying to play—especially for newcomers—we are carefully reviewing how this mechanic should function within the broader experience.
For a small number of characters, we are also considering changes that go beyond standard tuning, including potential reworks.
New Moves for Existing Characters
We are also planning to add new moves for Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, Nagoriyuki, and Leo Whitefang.
These moves have already reached an implementation stage, and we are currently conducting thorough testing and final adjustments within the Version 2.0 battle environment.
Expanding Play Rewards
To further support player motivation, we are working on expanding reward systems.
In addition to the existing FISHING feature, we are developing new ways for players to earn rewards based on their gameplay.
Quality-of-Life Improvements
We will continue making incremental improvements to overall usability.
Examples include increasing the number of items that can be obtained at once through FISHING, as well as optimizing early battle stages to reduce load and improve performance—focusing on areas players interact with on a daily basis.
Addressing Bad Manners
We are also continuing to review measures against disruptive behavior such as intentional disconnects.
When such behavior is confirmed, the operations team applies responses such as network restrictions or ranking exclusions.
In addition, we are developing systems that allow for faster detection and more appropriate handling of these cases.
Some of the topics discussed here may not be ready in time for the initial release of Version 2.0.
For those elements, we are considering implementation in future updates beyond Version 2.0, while carefully reviewing priorities and development timelines.
The topics introduced here represent only a portion of what we are preparing for Version 2.0.
There are still elements we are not ready to talk about yet, but we hope to share more as development progresses.
Future Support for Nintendo Switch Edition
Finally, regarding the future of GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE- Nintendo Switch Edition.
Developing and operating the game on Nintendo Switch required a great deal of effort and ingenuity to work within hardware constraints.
Based on that experience, we are currently examining what form future updates beyond Version 2.0 could take for the Nintendo Switch Edition.
Please note that feasibility will depend not only on technical challenges, but also on how far we can push ourselves as a development team, as well as on feedback and support from our players. All of these factors will be taken into account as we make our decisions.
With this Developer’s Backyard, we have shared our current thoughts and direction for Version 2.0, within the scope of what we are able to discuss at this time.
Whether you are actively playing now or have been away for a while, we will continue development with the goal of creating updates that make you feel like picking up the game again.
We will share further updates as they become available, and we hope you will continue to enjoy Guilty Gear -Strive-.
If there was anything in this article that stood out to you—something you enjoyed reading or found exciting—we would be happy if you shared those thoughts in your own words.
Your reactions are a great source of motivation for our development team.
Thank you very much for playing Guilty Gear -Strive- throughout this year.
We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year.
Thank you very much for reading.
This concludes Developer’s Backyard Vol.19.
If there are topics you would like us to cover in future installments, or questions for the developers, please feel free to submit them via the form at the bottom of the page.
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