‘A Level of Passion That’s Never Been Seen Before’:.hack//ZERO Developer Goes All-In On New RPG

In case you missed it, a brand new .hack game was announced last week, named .hack//ZERO.

The announcement was a major moment for CyberConnect 2, marking their 30th anniversary, and it seems they’re going all-out with this new project.

The team behind .hack is deeply committed to bringing it back, so much so that they asked to take over management of the series from Bandai Namco. Now, CyberConnect 2 is handling the release of ZERO themselves.

As a big fan of .hack, it was awesome to hear Hiroshi Matsuyama, the creator and CEO of CyberConnect 2, say that self-publishing is the way to go – he basically said it makes everything so much easier! He told 4Gamer that, and Automaton translated it, so it’s legit. It’s really encouraging to see him support that approach.

The experienced creator explained that by taking complete ownership of the project, the team can dedicate all their expertise, creativity, and enthusiasm to it, truly maximizing its potential. They believe this approach will result in .hack//ZERO being made with an unprecedented level of passion.

Hideki Matsuyama is famous for his commitment and passion, like when he dressed up as Naruto for interviews promoting the Naruto Storm video games. It’s obvious this current project is particularly important to him.

Matsuyama thinks self-publishing will allow the team to work without limitations. The only real constraint will be the financial risks involved, giving the developer complete creative control.

We’re taking full control of all the big decisions, like exactly how far we want to take the development of this thing. It’s really exciting to be able to shape it ourselves!

Considering everything we know, we’re really excited about .hack//ZERO! So far, we’ve only seen a short teaser trailer introducing some of the main characters, but we expect a more complete announcement will be coming soon.

What are your hopes for the new .hack series? And what do you think about the creator, Matsuyama, and his enthusiasm for it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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2026-02-23 17:06