Fairy Tail RPG by Koei Tecmo and Gust was announced in early September. At that time, I heard a rumor about how a Hunter x Hunter RPG could have happened instead. This rumor was probably born from how Gust, back in 2016, organized a "Future Game Title" poll.
During the poll, Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail and Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter x Hunter were nip and tuck, but Fairy Tail ended up winning by a very small margin. As such, when we got to interview Fairy Tail's producer Keisuke Kikuchi, I actually asked him about this poll.
Keisuke Kikuchi explained how this poll had no incidence in the decision to make a Fairy Tail RPG at all. There are three factors instead: It's the fact that Fairy Tail is popular worldwide. That the development team wished to make a Fairy Tail game for a while. And lastly, Kodansha, who published Fairy Tail in its Weekly Shonen Magazine, wanted a game as well. This is how the deal came to be. The poll did show how much Fairy Tail is loved though.
Keisuke Kikuchi added how he's a fan of Hunter x Hunter himself. However, the top priority for Koei Tecmo and Gust right now is turning the Fairy Tail RPG into a big success and potentially create a whole Fairy Tail RPG franchise out of it.
As a side note, CyberConnect 2 recently teased they're working on multiple unannounced projects, one of which is a game originating from a manga. This might turn out to be Hunter x Hunter.
It's interesting how there are tons of rumors like that when it comes to Japanese pop culture, mostly because of the language barrier. At least one just got debunked. I particularly dislike these because of the misinformation spread, and how even correct translations can get warped over time as people secondhandedly share them. These rumors can also create animosity between fandoms. I believe one thing we all really lack nowadays is empathy. Everyone should try more to put themselves into someone else's shoes, be it developers, publishers, or other players. And Fairy Tail fans and Hunter x Hunter fans should get along.
Even if we all know Hunter x Hunter is better.
Our full interview with Fairy Tail RPG Producer Keisuke Kikuchi interview is going live tomorrow. Meanwhile, you can check our previous coverage of the game. We also asked Keisuke Kikuchi about possible original characters and locations in the game
Fairy Tail will launch on PS4, Switch, and PC in 2020. Keisuke Kikuchi recently explained how Hiro Mashima's feedback plays into the development. We also learned that Gust is working on four different projects right now besides Fairy Tail.