Gungrave G.O.R.E now available – launch day interview with Studio IGGYMOB

20 years ago, the third-person action game Gungrave launched for PlayStation 2. Today, the gun-slinging anti-hero Beyond the Grave returns in Gungrave G.O.R.E, the first orthodox sequel in the series since the 2004 follow-up Gungrave: Overdose. This time, it is spearheaded by Studio IGGYMOB, a South Korean developer whose first venture into the franchise was the 2017-released Gungrave VR for virtual reality headsets.

“When looking into it, as a studio, we liked that both the gameplay and the characters gave us this nostalgic feeling,” Studio IGGYMOB chief operating officer Kay Kim told Gematsu. “With the original, people fell in love with the game’s distinct look and design in this over-the-top world. That distinctive gameplay and charm of the character played an important role in our decision to revive the Gungrave intellectual property. As fans of the series, it was a new and exciting challenge.”

The first Gungrave was developed by RED Entertainment, which still owns the rights to the intellectual property. While its gameplay received mixed reception at the time, its character designs by Yasuhiro Nightow were highly acclaimed. And while RED Entertainment is not directly involved in Gungrave G.O.R.E, Nightow is still on board in a big way.

“Nightow took an active and important role as image director for the Gungrave G.O.R.E,” Kim explained. “In particular we worked with Nightow on character’s design, posing, and more. Later on, Nightow also helped us with coming up with names and designs for the skills, broadening his role to even more as an image director.”