Danganronpa Creator Says Physical Games Are Shipped With Builds That Need Patches

Kazutaka Kodaka, the creator of Danganronpa and The Hundred Line, revealed during a roundtable at the SKY31 Convention in Seoul that physical game production often forces studios to submit builds that require patches. The developer explained that the lengthy process of manufacturing and packaging physical copies, especially collector's editions, requires the master build to be submitted much earlier than a digital release.

Speaking through a report from Kotaku, Kodaka said his studio, Too Kyo Games, sometimes submits builds that barely pass platform certification. He stated plainly that the team operates under the assumption that all players have internet access and can download a day-one patch to bring the game to an acceptable standard.

"Honestly, we approach it with the mindset of finalizing the master via patches," Kodaka said. He added that collector's editions for North America and Europe take an enormous amount of time to pack, making the master submission deadline absurdly early. "To be frank, we sometimes submit builds where we think, 'No one should ever play it in this state.'"

Kodaka acknowledged that his confession might sound risky, but noted that even a classic title like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time received a day-one patch, though that was primarily to enable a connectivity feature.

Kodaka's next project is Danganronpa 2x2 for Nintendo Switch and the upcoming Switch 2. Earlier this year, it was announced that the collector's edition for that game would no longer include a full game cartridge, instead using a Game-Key Card.