Digimon Story Time Stranger Was Such a Big Hit, Bandai Namco Wants to Make More Digimon Games

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Bandai Namco may be planning more Digimon games. The company recently hinted that it’s still working closely with Toei Animation on Digimon projects. With Digimon’s popularity growing again after first appearing in the late 1990s, it seems likely we’ll see more games in the future.

The newest Digimon Story game, Time Stranger, has been a hit with both players and critics. It puts you in the shoes of a secret agent who unexpectedly gets caught up in a war within the Digital World. With a 94% positive rating on Steam and a perfect 100% score on OpenCritic, Digimon Story: Time Stranger has received even better reviews than Pokemon Legends: Z-A, a significant accomplishment considering Pokemon‘s popularity.

Bandai Namco Doubles Down on Digimon

Bandai Namco seems determined to build on the recent success of their Digimon games. In a recent 4Gamer interview, producer Ryosuke Hara and director Yusuke Tomono discussed the future of the franchise. Hara emphasized Bandai Namco’s commitment to working closely with Toei and other Digimon partners on future game development. This makes sense, as both companies share ownership of the Digimon property, and these comments should reassure fans that more games are on the way.

Image via Bandai Namco

While there’s no confirmed release date for the next Digimon game, it sounds like fans might be waiting a while. Producer Kazumasa Hara mentioned needing to refine some aspects of Digimon Story: Time Stranger, suggesting a longer planning phase before development begins. Time Stranger is a substantial game, offering 40-50 hours for the main story and 60-80 hours for full completion, and took eight years to create. Hara indicated the team is working to improve their process and build a system for continued growth, meaning the next game likely won’t have such a long development cycle, but it still won’t be immediate.

Details about the next Digimon game are still limited, but producer Kazumasa Habu (Tomono) has offered some clues. There have been 10 Digimon anime series in Japan (the first four were combined into Digimon: Digital Monsters for international audiences) and 20 movies. Habu explained that recent games have focused on connecting with the anime and appealing to longtime fans who grew up with the franchise. He wants to continue that approach, but also hopes the next game will attract new players who aren’t already familiar with Digimon.

Although Digimon Story: Time Stranger is a fan favorite, the Digimon franchise has released almost 60 games over the last 25 years, including role-playing games, fighting games, and even digital novels. The Digimon Story series, which began in 2006, has seven titles, and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth from 2015 was almost as well-received as the newest installment. Another RPG series, Digimon World, has been around since 1999, but hasn’t achieved the same critical success as Digimon Story. The franchise also includes several fighting game series, like Digimon Battle Spirit and Digimon Rumble Arena. However, because the Digimon Story RPGs have been so popular, future games will likely focus on that genre.

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2026-01-05 21:05