Note: This article previously incorrectly stated that Keiji Inafune designed Mega Man. We have corrected the error and apologise for the mistake.
A brand new blog post from Level-5 has revealed some of the development woes its upcoming title Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time.
Namely, the game's producer — Keiji Inafune, who is perhaps best known as a character designer for the Mega Man series — left the company in mid-2024. This also means that Level-5 Comcept, which was created after Level-5 acquired Inafune's studio Comcept, has also been shuttered, with all projects transferred over to Level-5's Osaka Office.
Since Inafune's departure in 2024, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has now taken over as producer of the project, and has not been shy about sharing the difficulties of development in the blog post.
"...we had to reassess and restructure the project", Hino writes, "Meanwhile, internal test players had given the game harsh evaluations, making it clear that major revisions were necessary. In response, I decided to take on the role of producer, shifting the core development team from Osaka to our headquarters."
Since coming under Hino's wing, the project has "evolved into a collective effort across our whole company", with teams from Fukuoka, Tokyo, and other locations pitching in. Hino says that this allowed Level-5 to expand the team and "focus on fine-tuning the game's quality right up until the very end."
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time has been growing in size since its announcement in 2023, but it's also faced multiple delays. The game settled on a final release date earlier this year, and also confirmed the game was going multiplatform.
Since its initial announcement, Fantasy Life i has added open-world elements and parkour-inspired action, a complete rehaul of the game's progression system and flow, and a refinement of the main story "to be even more emotionally impactful." Cross-Play, Cross-Save, and UI improvements have also been promised.
"Thanks to the solid foundation of the game’s core mechanics, these additions didn’t just fit in—they enhanced what was already great about the game, making the experience significantly more enjoyable", Hino states in the post, confirming that the game is "finally nearing completion".
You can read the full blog post, where Hino promises to share regular updates of game development progress, on the Level-5 website.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time launches on Switch on 21st May 2025. Are you looking forward to the game? Are you surprised about Inafune's departure? Let us know in the comments.