As we get closer to the April 17th release date for Pragmata, Capcom has revealed through a new episode of its Japanese PLAY!PLAY!PLAY! YouTube series that Yasuhiro Anpo is serving as the game’s general director. His presence on the project should give fans of Capcom’s recent titles more of a reason to be excited, since Anpo has also worked as co-director on 2019’s Resident Evil 2 Remake and 2023’s Resident Evil 4 Remake.
The credits are visible in the video as part of the title’s opening cutscene. The video features Pragmata director Yonghee Cho, producer Naoto Oyama, alongside the show’s host, Hatsune Matsushima. Volume 1 of the show, which you can check out below, involves the earlier parts of the game, with Matsushima being introduced to Pragmata and its characters by Oyama and Cho. The second volume, slated to be released later this week, will take place “a little further into the game,” and will pit Matsushima against some of Pragmata‘s boss fights.
As for Anpo, he has been working with Capcom since 1996, and even served as a software engineer on the first two Resident Evil games. He would eventually take on more responsibilities, like being production director on 2009’s Resident Evil 5, before taking on the role of co-director on the two remakes. Along with Resident Evil, Anpo has also worked on other franchises, including 2006’s Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and 2001’s Onimusha: Warlords.
Pragmata is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Just last month, Capcom confirmed that there would be no delays for the game since it had gone gold. In its announcement, the company thanked “all the fans who supported us so far.”
Cho and Oyama had previously spoken about the challenges of making the New York environment in Pragmata look like it was AI-generated, despite having been made by human artists. In an interview, Cho spoke about trying to nail minor details to make sure things wouldn’t get too distracting for players.
“For Pragmata, we set the premise as ‘a fake New York generated by AI,’” said Cho. “When familiar locations appear, players can relate more easily. On top of that, to make it clear that this isn’t the real New York, we wanted something slightly distorted.”
“It mirrors reality, but its unique appeal comes from the setting errors and how they feel out of place, such as taxis sinking into floors, or buses sprouting from walls. Although the premise is that it generated by AI, actually, our human developers painstakingly worked to incorporate mechanisms that express this AI-like uncanny feel,” explained Oyama.
If Pragmata looks like the kind of game you would enjoy, you can check out its free demo, available on all platforms. The demo proved to be quite popular, with Capcom celebrating the fact that it had been downloaded 2 million times since its release. In the meantime, take a look at our thoughts about why Pragmata may end up being in a league of its own.
