Ryo Ishida : “The Arc World Tour is our esports event… We are very excited to show what we’ve been working on.”

At Evo 2022, the biggest fighting game tournament in the world, Esports.gg reporter Kaze was able to sit down and speak directly with Ryo Ishida, Arc System Works Japan's Esports Manager. Arc System Works' games dominated the Evo 2022 line up, with Guilty Gear Strive, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Granblue Fantasy Versus all featuring.

Kaze asked Ishida about Guilty Gear Strive at Evo, their hopes for the Arc World Tour, and the future of Guilty Gear Strive.

Kaze: So first off, thank you for the opportunity and your time. My first question is How does it feel to have Guilty Gear Strive as the most entered game at Evo?

Ishida: It feels almost unreal. To be at a tournament of this size and to have Guilty Gear Strive as the most entered title is great. We have over 2000 players who have entered and are competing for the championship title. We've never had representation like this so it is great to see so many people playing Guilty Gear Strive.

K: Yeah its amazing! I'm actually one of the players competing in Guilty Gear Strive this year. So my second question is: With the Arc World Tour 2022 taking place around the world, how excited are you to watch the highest level of competition from players around the world?

I: The Arc World Tour finals is our esports event that we have not been able to accomplish for the past two years. However, during that time we were able to learn and study and get some know-how. This is our first opportunity to show off that know-how in public. We are very excited to show everyone what we've been working on.

K: Awesome. My third question is: With the competitive success of Guilty Gear Strive and DNF Duel, are there any plans to support other Arc System Works titles like Granblue Fantasy Versus or Persona 4 Arena Ultimax?

I: We would love to support all of our games at Arc World Tour finals and upcoming stops on the way. Especially some of the older titles that people obviously love like GG Xrd and a bunch of our other games as well. So while we don't have any plans to include them, we also don't have any plans to not include them. It's up for discussion, and we hope to be able to discuss is very soon.

K: That's great, I hope those titles can see some love. My fourth and final question is: Will the second season of Guilty Gear Strive bring any large scale changes to the game based off the results of the developer feedback survey?

I: Our dev team is often making development based off of user feedback through the survey and other means. It has not been specifically decided yet if that feedback will be reflected in the season 2 and after. I'm sorry that I cannot give you specific details right now, but please look forward to our future discussion.

The Arc World Tour 2022 is sure to give fans all of the fighting game excitement that they can ask for. With the first player for Guilty Gear Strive already having been decided, we can't wait to see who else makes the cut. You can find out more about the Arc World Tour 2022 here.

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