Imagining Visual Excellence—The Art Direction Behind Cygames’ Creative Standard
Guided by a vision to be the best in entertainment, Cygames is committed to achieving the highest standard for every visual aspect in their games, from illustrations and 3D graphics, to animations and UI elements.
In this article, we explore the role of an art director at Cygames—a professional who oversees visual quality and steers the development team to the finish line. To learn about this important role, we interviewed Takumu, an Executive Technical Officer (ETO) and art director for many of Cygames’ most popular titles such as Princess Connect! Re:Dive (hereafter referred to as Re:Dive) and Umamusume: Pretty Derby (hereafter referred to as Umamusume).
- Executive Technical Officer
Creative Direction Section – Art DirectorTakumu
- Drawing on his hobby for creating illustrations, Takumu joined Cygames in 2014 after graduating from an engineering university.
Following his experience as an illustrator for several games, he became an art director on Princess Connect! Re:Dive, Umamusume: Pretty Derby, and other emerging projects at affiliated studios.
Assuming the role of ETO in October 2024, he is responsible for art direction and providing development support on a number of projects currently being developed.
From Art Director to Executive Technical Officer—Elevating Brand Power Through Outstanding Visuals
You became an Executive Technical Officer after serving as an art director and providing development support for numerous titles at Cygames. What is your primary responsibility as an ETO?
First and foremost, my responsibility is to effectively drive the development of new titles at Cygames. We’ve got several upcoming releases on the horizon, so I’ve been working to make sure our teams have what they need deliver the best possible experiences and visuals to every player.
I’m involved in multiple projects at the moment and take on different roles depending on what’s needed. Sometimes I’m there as a leading art director, and other times I’m there to provide support for other art directors.
As an ETO specializing in art direction, my goal is to help establish Cygames as a leader in the industry capable of consistently releasing exceptional titles that are defined by their quality experiences and visuals.
What does an art director do at Cygames?
Next, we’d like to ask about the work involved in art direction. What are the duties of an art director at Cygames?
An art director’s specific duties differs between projects, but for the most part they have three major responsibilities: setting a direction, supervising assets, and verifying in-game implementation.
First, is to set the overall direction of a project. The art director collaborates with other leaders on the development team to establish the theme, concept, and intended experience of a given title, and then shares this information to the art team. Sometimes verbal communication falls short, so we often rely on concept art and mockups to provide extra clarity.
Second, is asset supervision. This is a bit more straightforward and involves inspecting the 3D graphics, UI elements, and illustrations slated for use in a project, and refining them as necessary throughout the development process.
Third, is checking actual implementation. As assets are created and implemented into test environments, art directors then test play the game on real devices to verify how they appear and operate in-game. This cycle of checking and refining continues until we achieve the experience we set out to create.
Assets – Individual elements and resources that make up a game.
Games include a lot of visual components, such as static illustrations, CG graphics, animations and UI elements. Are art directors responsible for every one of these aspects?
Yes, generally speaking art directors are involved with nearly every visual element that appears on screen. Depending on the project, our responsibilities often go beyond the game itself, leading us to participate in the creative planning of a game’s promotional video and website production, advertising, in-person events, and live streams.
The scope of an art director’s duties is quite broad, so while some games can be overseen by a single director, with the increasing scale of modern development, it’s not unusual to have multiple art directors working together to bring a title to fruition.
Each director brings their own strengths and expertise to the table. Some may specialize in graphics and visuals, while others excel in UI elements and interactive design. It’s become commonplace for art directors with distinct strengths to collaborate on a single project, with the shared goal of achieving a higher standard of quality.
What does the organizational structure of the creative process look like?
This is also something that varies by project, but in addition to an art director, most teams consist of section leaders who oversee illustrators, UI designers, and 3D artists, as well as production staff responsible for creating assets and production coordinators who handle scheduling.
Each of these sections is highly organized, and leaders are often tasked with managing staff workflow and development. It can seem rigid, but on the development floor, everyone makes an effort to communicate and collaborate to produce their best work regardless of their role.
Cygames has built a reputation among fans as a company dedicated to creating high-quality experiences. As an art director, what is your approach to elevating the quality of a project?
My approach comes back to one of the primary duties of an art director, namely establishing a clear concept or goal for a project. These days, it’s common for several hundreds of people to work on a single title. With that considered, improving the quality of a large-scale project is often contingent on my ability to unify a team around the same objective and empower each individual to contribute their talents in the most optimal way.
So clearly stating to the team what kind of player experience we’re after and what we have to create to facilitate that experience is a crucial aspect of my approach.
I also make a conscious effort to stay in close communication with team members throughout development. Having active conversations with team members during the creative process is a great way to unearth novel ideas that are sometimes even better than was initially planned. Plans fall through all the time in game development, but by openly talking things through, we can quickly pivot toward an ideal solution.
In short, when it comes to raising the quality of a project, I try to focus on two things: defining clear goals and refining work through open dialogue. These are the aspects that guide my approach as an art director.
A Determination to See Things Through
Given your extensive experience as an art director at Cygames, what would you say is the company’s defining characteristic?
This might sound surprising, but we don’t do anything particularly unusual at Cygames. However, I’d like to say we’re a company with a strong sense of determination. When we decide to do something for our players, we do everything we can to make it happen.
The development of Umamusume is a perfect example of this. There was a considerable amount of time between the announcement and launch of Umamusume, but we were determined to see the project through and release the best game we possibly could, which I think we achieved.
The Project, which I believe has been highlighted in several Cygames Magazine articles, is another apt example of our resolve. We developed these standards in-house to put everyone on the same page and give individuals the same sense of resolve that we have as a company.
The Project – An internal guideline consisting of 25 principles that Cygames staff are expected to implement on a daily basis. Posters of The Project are prominently displayed on every floor.
What is most important to you as an art director?
My job as an art director at Cygames is, of course, to create art. But what’s most important to me isn’t just improving the quality of the art in a game, but elevating the game’s quality overall.
A game can be visually stunning, but if good visuals lead to long loading times or performance issues, then the quality of the game is compromised.
Solving problems with data processing usually falls to engineers, but I believe it’s our obligation as the art team to cross boundaries and help provide solutions, like devising ways to optimize file sizes and proposing new systems for storing data.
Our job is complete only when players are able to fully enjoy the experience we’ve created for them.
Balancing Quality and Efficiency—Working to Improve Development Practices
Balancing Quality and Efficiency—Working to Improve Development Practices
Looking back on the projects you’ve worked on, do you have any memorable experiences of overcoming a difficult situation that you’d like to share?
Princess Connect! Grandmasters – An app developed to celebrate April Fools’ Day in Princess Connect! Re:Dive that was only available from April 1, 2022 to April 8, 2022.X
Being an April Fools’ project, the launch date of Grandmasters was set in stone for April 1, so there was absolutely no room for delays. But the volume of content we managed to pack into it rivaled that of a full game. For Grandmasters, we created 58 brand-new 3D character models, hundreds of motions, a fully-voiced story, opening and ending movies with songs, and a ton of other in-game assets.
The development of this limited-time experience was a tremendous undertaking that involved the main office in Tokyo, Osaka Cygames affiliate Cysharp, and other partners in and outside of Japan. It was so large, in fact, that we had to form a team completely separate from the Re:Dive team to get it done.
The schedule was extremely tight, but seeing the developers on the team, most of whom were huge Princess Connect fans, pour their hearts into the project is something I’ll never forget. And because the entire team was so passionate, the flow of new ideas and tweaks was nonstop, almost all of which we greenlit. The whole thing snowballed way beyond our original scope (laugh).
Despite that, we managed to release it on time in the end and to much fanfare from the fans. I’ve been involved with Re:Dive since its launch, so getting the opportunity to develop and release a new game for this series was incredibly fulfilling.
What do you prioritize as an ETO and art director to ensure development quality is at its highest while staying on schedule?
I’m currently working on measures to speed up the development process that I hope will also help us strike a balance between quality and scheduling. At Cygames, delivering content in a timely manner is considered a metric of quality, which is why we’re always trying new approaches and making improvements that could allow us to ship better content faster.
As an art director, I focus on minimizing time spent on revisions by establishing a clear concept and goal for the project and pushing workflow optimizations that align with where we are in the development process.
Moreover, as the bar for quality in the modern development space keeps rising, so does our need for speedy and extensive asset production. Procuring the talent required to achieve this means leveraging not only Cygames’ resources, but those of studios in Japan and around the world as well to form a single, cohesive development team.
We can take a while to release a game, but we try to give every title the attention it deserves. No matter what they’re working on, developers at Cygames are committed to bringing players an exceptional titles. Our goal is to keep delivering enduring experiences to players for years to come, and I believe releasing games only when we think they’re ready is the best way to do that.
Building a team capable of delivering quality work on schedule is no easy feat. What do you focus on in your approach to organizing and supporting a team?
While the overall goal is to put together a team capable of imagining a title that resonates with players, I particularly focus on making sure everyone is in a position that allows their strengths to shine.
For example, if a project has a team experienced in 3D graphics, I’ll advocate for direction that showcases 3D elements. Or if there’s a team that excels in 2D illustrations, I’ll try pushing for interfaces that highlight the unique qualities of 2D design instead.
The distinct strengths of each project are different, and in my approach to planning and visual design as an art director, it’s important for me to consider how every team member can maximize their potential. At the same time, I try to encourage staff to explore new avenues of expression and to refine their core skills.
An individual’s achievements and personal growth ultimately strengthens their entire team, which can at times lead to creative breakthroughs.
Is there anything you try to keep in mind when sharing your expertise as an art director and training new talent?
I’ll occasionally pass along specific art techniques or methods to people I’m training, but for the most part I prioritize conveying the mindset required for game development and the core values that define Cygames.
Through our approach to direction, art directors at Cygames serve as a bridge between the company’s vision and the work being done on the development floor. In essence, we’re charged with balancing our role as a creative catalyst with our responsibility to represent the company’s overall vision.
When training future art directors, I make a point to encourage them to promote an approach to art that is consistent with Cygames’ vision and mission statement. Ultimately, my goal is to give new directors the courage to steer their teams in the right direction during development.
This unified approach is what I think enables us to produce art that exceeds our players’ expectations.
Delivering the Best in Entertainment Worldwide—Looking Ahead & A Message for the Fans
As an ETO, what can you tell us about Cygames’ long-term vision for expanding globally?
Our mission is to be the best in entertainment and part of that mission is delivering “the best” to as many people as possible, no matter where they may live.
Our primary focus at the moment is to deliver content even more compelling than anything we’ve done before to Cygames’ domestic and international fans. We’re also putting considerable effort into developing experiences that capture the interests of those who’ve yet to play a game by Cygames, as well as global audiences who aren’t familiar with our brand.
We’ve been collaborating a lot with our offices in Japan and our other international locations to prepare for this momentous venture.
From a development perspective, what do you think will be necessary to ensure the success of Cygames’ global expansion?
I think the most important thing will be tuning each title to ensure that the experience we’ve created isn’t diminished by a difference in language or device.
Beyond language, disparities in popular devices, lifestyles, and even gaming habits can differ drastically between countries.
As developers, our goal is to expand player choice by providing a smooth gameplay experience regardless of language or device.
To achieve this, we’re currently implementing design and development strategies that take multiple languages and platforms into account.
Lastly, do you have anything you’d like to say to Cygames’ fans across the world?
Cygames has several diverse titles scheduled for release in the near future.
Our teams across the entire company are working hard to imagine stories and characters that can be cherished for decades to come.
In addition to coming titles, some of our existing games have been live for over 10 years, and a select few properties have evolved, entering a new chapter of their story with the release of fresh installments, such as Shadowverse.
We at Cygames remain committed to delivering exceptional experiences to all of our fans and hope they’re excited for what we have in store for them.
And that wraps up this article on the role of art directors at Cygames!
Stay tuned for more news about upcoming Cygames titles!
