Survival JRPG Digimon Survive Release Date Finally Set After Three Delays Since 2018

Ryan Pearson |

Apr 21, 2022

Source: Digimon Survive (2022), Bandai Namco

Survival JRPG Digmon Survive has finally been given a release date, after several delays and switching developers.

The new release date was announced in a new Producer Update for the game shared to Bandai Namco Entertainment America’s YouTube channel.

Producer Kazumasa Habu opened the Producer Update video apologizing, “Sorry to keep you waiting for updates on Digimon Survive. But today I would like to provide you with this exciting news!”

Habu then revealed, “The release date of Digimon Survive… has finally been fixed for July 29th, 2022!”

“The Digimon Survive team is planning to deliver more exciting news to you in all forms,” Habu teased. “Please look forward to it and stay tuned. We are almost there!”

Digimon Survive has been hit with multiple delays since its announcement in 2018. While it was initially planned to launch in 2019, the game was subsequently delayed practically every year, to 2020, 2021, and 2022.

However, it should be considered that this also came amid the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown orders. In addition, the game’s developer also switched from Witchcraft to Hyde some time at the beginning of 2022.

Part of the Digimon series’ 20th anniversary, Takuma Momozuka and his classmates (designed by Uichi Ukumo) soon find themselves ripped from their school camping trip, and hurled into the Digital World. Their only hope of survival is their new Digimon partners.

Habu explained further in a Q&A regarding Digimon Survive (transcribed by Bandai Namco themselves) that “Since the target audience for this game are Digimon fans who are adults, the story is a little darker, with the deaths of friends.”

The game combines a visual novel with a tactical turn-based JRPG, Habu-san detailed, “As for the ratio of the game, the volume of visual novel and tactical battles is about 7:3, so the game is mainly a visual novel.”

Players enter text adventures through “Free expedition” and “Exploration,” where moving around the world, examining objects, and growing closer to friends, all take up your limited time.

However your actions may result in battles with Digimon (some who may even befriend you), finding items, evolving your Digimon, allies coming to your rescue in a fight, and more.

Across the game’s 12 chapters, Digimon Survive splits into three routes by chapter 8 depending on your choices, along with a secret route that “will be released” upon completing one of the three other routes.

Habu claimed the game would take “80 to 100 hours to complete all routes including challenging elements and end contents.”

The game features 113 monsters to train, a soundtrack by Tomoki Miyoshi, and support for new game plus with greater challenges in store. Habu-san explained, “The selection of Digimon was based on the priority of matching the world view.

“The concept of this game is based on the encounter with life forms from other worlds, and it is set before monsters spread to the world as Digimon. For this reason, I prioritized the selection of monsters with designs that give a sense of wildlife from the early LCD game Digital Monsters to the monsters that have appeared since Pendulum,” he elaborated.