Dead or Alive’s Reika was created by an international team

In June, Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation welcomed a new character, Reika. Recently, Yasunori Sakuda, the game’s producer, shared insights into how the international development team created this character in an interview.

Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation is a gacha-based volleyball management simulator for PC. In this game, you own a tropical island and help the girls you invite to the island win the Venus Festival.

Although it is a sports game, the main focus is on interacting with the girls and increasing their affection by helping them win matches. Getting closer to the girls unlocks new character episodes, gravure modes, and other features.

Introducing Reika: The New Character in Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation

Dead or Alive is a Japanese franchise, but it boasts an international development team based in Singapore. The international version of the game is usually a year behind the Japanese version.

To address the lack of surprises for international players when new additions to the Japanese version are eventually added to the international version, Reika was introduced.

Producer Sakuda explained how Reika came to be: “The international development team had a passionate desire to give international players a surprise they had never seen before, so we decided to create her.”

The international team came up with her name and handled all aspects of her design and modeling. The Japanese oversight team was involved in the dialogue and scenarios to ensure Reika’s appeal was effectively conveyed in Japanese.

Sakuda admitted he wasn’t sure if foreign players would embrace the character, but the international team was convinced that Reika’s charm would definitely appeal to them.

Sakuda also mentioned that it might take some time for players to warm up to Reika, but he is confident that more people will accept the character in the future, especially after seeing her episodes.

via automaton