Developer's Backyard Vol. 21 (November 6, 2026)

Featured articles

Developer's Backyard

Hello everyone, this is Producer Miyauchi.

It has been about a month since the last Developer's Backyard.
As promised, this time we are introducing the results of the Guilty Gear -Strive- 5th Anniversary Survey conducted in September.

We received an incredible 46,686 responses from all over the world! Thank you so much to everyone who participated.

In terms of total responses, this survey received more than twice as many as last year's Season 4 survey.
About 6.5% of respondents started playing GGST with Version 2.0 or later.
We are very happy that those who picked up GGST with Version 2.0 also took part in this survey.
Additionally, we would like to express our gratitude once again to everyone supporting our community over the years while also welcoming new players.

This time, in addition to recurring questions such as favorite characters and which characters you'd like to see join the roster, we received a great deal of feedback on Version 2.0, Blazing Pass, and what you'd like to see in future updates.
We'd like to take a closer look at how the development team interprets these results and how they relate to our plans going forward.

And of course, we will also announce the final Vote results for the 5th Anniversary "Character Matchup Theme Song" project.

Character Matchup Theme Song — Final Vote Results

Thank you for participating in the final Character Matchup Theme Song vote, organized as part of the 5th Anniversary project.
We received over 24,000 votes in the final round.

Out of the eight matchups that advanced from the first-round vote, the matchup that will receive the fifth theme song is—

Results Announcement

1st Place: Sol VS Asuka
(6,170 votes)

has been decided!

Here are some of the supporting comments we received.

*Partially excerpted and translated.

I want to hear it precisely because these two are the core of Guilty Gear's story. I want to listen to a song that expresses the emotions built up between them from all the story so far!

I love the complex relationship between Asuka and Sol—their long history, their friendship, and all the different feelings they have toward each other!!!

Ever since reading the novel "Guilty Gear BEGIN", I've loved the story of these two; they are also the reason I discovered Guilty Gear. I really want to hear the theme song for this matchup!

I want to enjoy the world of Guilty Gear even more by imagining their feelings up to now and their relationship going forward through this dedicated theme song!

The top 3 matchups that followed are as follows.

2nd Place: Bridget VS Unika
(4,619 votes)

Supporting Comments:

*Partially excerpted and translated

I hope we get a wonderful song about Bridget and Unika caring for each other while both moving forward with their lives.

I really liked seeing the story from the anime continue in STRIVE and take their relationship in a new direction. Their feelings for each other come across clearly, so I'm really looking forward to the music too.

3rd Place: Axl VS I-No
(3,000 votes)

Supporting Comments:

*Partially excerpted and translated.

The exchange between Axl and I-No near the end of the main story truly brought me to tears. Every time I watch it I feel "this really is my favorite scene". I definitely want to hear a song representing their drama!

The relationship between the two depicted in Story Mode was wonderful. I'd love an upbeat song with a message about not giving up on life and meeting again someday.

4th Place: Nagoriyuki VS Slayer
(2,745 votes)

Supporting Comments:

*Partially excerpted and translated.

A matchup of two characters whose individual theme songs I love most in GGST! Although both are vampires, their themes are opposite like "stillness and motion", so I'm very eager to see what kind of track it becomes!

I want to hear both of their individual theme styles blended into a battle track! I'm super curious to see how elements of their respective themes will combine...

Thank you so much to everyone for sending in so many votes and warm supporting comments.

The dedicated theme songs produced for the 5th Anniversary project, including the winning matchup, are scheduled to be released in Spring 2027 or later.
Please look forward to seeing how the relationship between these characters will be expressed through Daisuke Ishiwatari's music.

While this voting was held as a 5th Anniversary event, the honest feeling of the dev team is that "we would love to hear every single matchup" just like all of you.
We deeply value the numerous supporting comments received when considering future projects. Please stay tuned for future Guilty Gear music offerings as well.

About the Survey Respondents

To recap, 46,686 responses were gathered for this survey.
Compared to last year's Season 4 survey, this represents more than double the number of responses.
Since the theme song vote was conducted concurrently this time, we believe a broader audience of players than ever before were able to participate.

Regarding age breakdown among respondents who answered, 18-24 made up 52.5% and 25-34 made up 27.3%, meaning respondents aged 18 to 34 accounted for roughly 80% of the total.
As Guilty Gear has continued for many years, we are delighted that not only long-time fans but also many younger players took part in the survey.

From here on, we will highlight items that received a particularly high volume of responses.

*This survey was answered voluntarily. The following results reflect trends among respondents and do not directly represent the opinions of all GGST players.

Favorite Playable Characters

For favorite playable characters, Sol took 1st place overall, followed by A.B.A, Bridget, Robo-Ky, and Elphelt in that order.

In particular, Robo-Ky placing high shortly after joining in Season 5 left a strong impression on the dev team.
We'd be delighted if Robo-Ky is being enjoyed not only by those who waited a long time for his return, but also by players encountering him for the first time in GGST.

There were also regional differences in favorite character trends. Sol, meanwhile, ranked highly across most regions, reaffirming the strong support he receives as the face of the series.

Requests for Future Character Inclusions

For future playable character requests, "Brand-New Character" garnered the most votes. This was followed by "Guest Character", Raven, Zappa, and Order Sol.
The fact that a brand-new character received the most interest, ahead of returning characters from past titles, is an interesting result for us as we think about the future of Guilty Gear.

Of course, future roster decisions are not determined solely by survey rankings, but we will use these results as a valuable reference for understanding the kinds of characters players hope to see in the game.
As before, we consider character additions while taking into account the balance of battle archetypes within each Season Pass, as well as the long-term future of Guilty Gear.

Season 5 has two character slots remaining. One of them is a guest character scheduled to join in Winter 2026. As mentioned last time, development is progressing smoothly, and we are currently conducting match testing and final polish.
We cannot share specific release timing just yet, but the opportunity to show more details is approaching. Please wait a little longer.

How Players Felt About GGST 2.0

In this survey, we also asked players who had been playing GGST prior to Version 2.0 about how they felt about the game post-update.
Among comparable responses, 72.8% answered "Improved", 12.7% answered "About the same", and 14.5% answered "Worse".

Reasons cited for "Improved" frequently included overall match flow, removal of Wild Assault, character balance, and offense/defense balance.

On the other hand, responses indicating "Worse" often voiced feedback regarding character balance and adjustments made to respondents' main characters.
While we are glad that many respondents viewed the overall direction of Version 2.0 positively, the open-ended responses also included many comments about the individuality of their main characters, the options available to them, and how enjoyable they feel to play.

We recognize the need to carefully evaluate aspects that cannot be measured solely by win rates or relative character strength.
Alongside survey feedback, we will continue reviewing actual match data, tournament environments, and internal playtests by our battle planners as we make necessary adjustments.

Regarding Counter Blitz

We also received a great deal of feedback on Counter Blitz. While many respondents said, "I can fight just fine without using it," we also saw comments such as, "It's hard to tell when it's useful," and "It's hard to see the benefit of using it."
We also recognize that, depending on the character and match situation, many players may prefer to spend Burst Gauge on Psych Burst or Deflect Shield.

In the Ver. 2.03 update on September 24, we extended the activation window for Counter Blitz, making it easier to decide whether to use it after confirming a counter hit. As a result, it is now easier to use in some situations and easier to judge when to activate it.
This survey was conducted before the September 24 update.
As a result, we believe perceptions may have changed since the Ver. 2.03 adjustments.

We are maintaining our original intent that Counter Blitz should not become a mechanic players are effectively required to use, as Wild Assault was.
As one example, we are currently testing adjustments to the payoff for landing Counter Blitz in situations where it does not trigger a Wall Break.

However, this is only one idea currently under testing and is not a promise of implementation.
Depending on the results, we may ultimately decide not to make a change. We will continue exploring ways for Counter Blitz to function as a clearer situational option.

Desired Future Feature Updates

Regarding desired updates, "New Playable Characters" was highest at 65.6%, followed by "New Special Moves" 36.9%, "Instant Kills" 32.4%, "Training Mode Expansion" 28.2%, and "Mid-Replay Control Feature" 25.0%.
While expectations for new characters are high, we also received many requests for features that make it easier to study matches and engage more deeply with day-to-day play.

As mentioned in Developer's Backyard Vol. 20, we are currently developing and testing features for taking control of characters mid-replay and an intuitive frame data display feature.

The survey reiterated strong demand for training and replay features, reaffirming the importance of preparing an environment where players can easily review and analyze matches.
These were not rushed into development solely due to this survey, but are requests consistently raised in past surveys, confirming that current dev direction aligns with player expectations.

Survey trends also showed that newer GGST players tend to be especially interested in ways to enjoy the game outside of versus matches, including characters, story and lore, collaborations, and single-player content.
Short Stories in particular have been well received as a way to get to know the characters more deeply.

There is no short story addition in the current "Duel 3: Steal the Spotlight", but preparations are underway for the next short story installment. Please look forward to it!

Feedback Received Regarding Blazing Pass

We received a great deal of feedback on Blazing Pass from both purchasers and players who primarily engage with the free rewards.
Among Blazing Pass Plus purchasers, 77.6% gave a positive rating for overall satisfaction, 78.5% for the appeal of Plus rewards, and 72.5% for the price.

On the other hand, among players who did not purchase Blazing Pass Plus, common responses included, "There aren't enough rewards I want" (41.1%), "I don't like that it is time-limited" (32.8%), "It's difficult to find enough time to play" (32.3%), and "I'm worried I won't be able to complete it in time" (29.6%).

As shared previously, we are continuing to review challenge progression and ways to make rewards from past Duels available again through other means in the future.

Rather than simply increasing the number of rewards, we want to improve Blazing Pass by balancing rewards that make each Duel feel worth playing with a progression structure that works across different playstyles.

Regarding the "New Control Type" Mentioned Last Time

In Developer's Backyard Vol. 20, we shared that we are developing a new feature designed to help newcomers and those who find fighting game execution difficult freely control their characters and experience Guilty Gear's signature offense and defense.

This feature is being developed as an additional option and is not intended to replace the current control scheme.
Existing controls will remain available, and we are tuning the balance so that each control type has its own strengths.

We'll share more details on the controls and how they work in matches soon, alongside actual gameplay footage. Please stay tuned.

Survey Results, Future Development, and Communication

In this survey, along with positive feedback, we received many suggestions for improvement.

We would like to clarify that survey results are not simply implemented in descending order of vote count.
We use the survey as an important source of information alongside actual match data, internal testing, technical feasibility, and other factors when deciding development priorities.

Not everything can take shape immediately, but understanding how you play GGST, what you enjoy, and where you experience inconvenience or frustration is essential to operating the game over the long term.
Even within this survey, reception to the same update varied significantly across regions and playstyles.

At the same time, the responses also made it clear that there is room for us to improve how we communicate.

In particular, we feel we have not done enough to explain how the development team interprets your feedback and how we are thinking about the future of the game.
Of course, we cannot share every detail of work in progress in advance, and plans may change during testing.
Even so, going forward, we want to share, where possible, what challenges we recognize and what direction we are aiming for, focusing on topics that receive a great deal of feedback or have a major impact on the game's future.

Developer's Backyard was originally created to share not only update details, but also the development team's thinking and direction.
With the results of this survey in mind, we want to continue valuing that role, particularly around updates and other times when there is information we feel we should share.

Thank you once again to everyone who participated in the survey.

Heading into winter, we're preparing more information that we haven't yet been able to show you, including Season 5's third DLC character—the guest character—and the new feature we briefly introduced last time. With the year drawing to a close, we expect to share more concrete details about the next update before the end of the year.

Also, as mentioned in the previous Developer's Backyard, the next update is planned to include battle balance adjustments targeting select characters.

We're continuing development step by step so that we can bring these updates to you. Please look forward to more news.

Finally, as we shared in our previous Developer’s Backyard, the next update will include battle balance adjustments for a certain number of Characters.

Thank you for your continued support of Guilty Gear -Strive-.