Sword Art Online Developer Wants to Take the Series in a More Mature Direction

New entries of both the Sword Art Online anime and the games have consistently been released for more than ten years now. On October 4th, both the newest anime season, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, and the newest game, Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream were released.

SAO: FD is already quite different from the previous in the video game series, but we had to ask: What’s next for the Sword Art Online video games? Here’s what SAO: FD producer Shoehei Mogami and SAO game series producer Yosuke Futami had to say about the possibility of a more mature SAO game and the MMORPG-style SAO game they know fans want.

“Sword Art Online itself, the anime and the game, will keep going into the future,” Futami said. “We do want to bring SAO to the next level, maybe even to a higher-performing console.”

Futami also explained that while Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream is more character-based, they maybe also want to try to do something around the concept of SAO that if you die in game, you die in real life. That’s something they want to explore in the future, but Futami clarified they likely wouldn’t implement a permadeath mechanic because “the current SAO game fans might be angry and just might break their keyboard or something.”

“We want to try to have more for those SAO fans who are adults and experience an SAO which is more mature,” Futami explained.

The future of SAO probably also wouldn’t be something like a Souls-like, and because of the difficulty behind development, neither an MMORPG.

“MMORPGs are very difficult to make,” Futami said, joking that in Japan it’s said to take 70 years to make one. “While we know the IP [Sword Art Online] would be great for it, and many of our fans and player community are interested in it, it’s something we would only pursue once we know we have a strong concept and could do it right. Maybe, if all the stars aligned, we would be able to start making it.”

Though it isn’t an MMORPG, Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream seeks to emulate raids found in MMORPGs with 20-person dungeons and raid bosses, complete with boss-specific, rare loot that not everyone can pick up at the end of the fight. It’s also a standalone title, so anyone familiar with just some of the anime would be able to get into and understand SAO: FD, no previous SAO game knowledge required.

“There’s a barrier to entry after ten years of [SAO] games,” Mogami said. “We want people who haven’t played the games to be able to enjoy SAO games.”

The team also wanted to challenge themselves by implementing cross-play in SAO: FD, so friends aren’t barred from playing with each other, Mogami explained.

There is one more thing we know about the future of SAO games, too: Though the chance is not entirely zero, don’t expect an SAO game without Kirito or Asuna. Having an SAO game without Kirito and Asuna, Futami said, “is like having a Dragon Ball without Son Goku.”

Casey DeFreitas is IGN’s Deputy Guides Editor.