PD Choi Seung-hyun: When preparing the roadmap earlier this year, I talked with the former PD, saying, 'If we pull all this off by the 1st anniversary, it feels like it will be a fun and stable game.' But now that the 1st anniversary is actually here, there are so many regrets and things left to be desired, and there is still a mountain of work to do. While the journey so far has been about reflecting on feedback for hidden issues and improving them, now the fundamental and lacking parts as a roguelike subculture game seem to be surfacing. My only thoughts are on how to solve these issues by the 2nd anniversary.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: The pressure is heavy enough that sleep has become a luxury. Because the process of becoming PD moved so urgently, the focus went straight into preparing for the upcoming 1st anniversary. Firsts (players) must have plenty of anxiety and curiosity about the new PD regime, so all efforts were poured into preparing for the 1st anniversary and future plans, leaving only the mindset of leading things successfully through to the 2nd year.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: There are three major areas. First is 'preserving the value of combatants.' In the past, the sense of emptiness when previous combatants became obsolete after a season passed was quite huge. Second is creating a seasonal environment where players can play with various combatants rather than just focusing on specific ones. Third is reviving the original 'roguelike (sortie)' fun. We will overhaul the lacking sortie system so that players can truly feel the essence of roguelike elements.

DD Kim Ki-beom: Internally, when designing combatants (characters), we place heavy emphasis on direction and gimmicks that showcase their charm well. Seasonal combatants are specifically designed to play the role of rule breakers. Rosweisse carries the concept of cards splitting to both ends, expressing yin and yang, black and white. We designed it to break the existing rule of cards being arranged in character order, allowing players to feel a sense of achievement as the cards merge back together.

DD Kim Ki-beom: This is the first character whose appearance temporarily changes when using an Ego skill. Since the presentation turned out quite charming, the development team is well aware of the high demand from Firsts. The team views this feedback positively and plans to actively incorporate it into future production.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: There have been quite a lot of related requests. Cazena features not only combatants but also partners, making the consumption of visuals more than twice as fast as other games. Considering the need to refresh these limited resources and fulfill narrative roles, we are seriously pondering whether we should strategically release a male character at least once.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: Personally, I always want to expand it, but quality improvement comes first right now. Since there are notable areas of disappointment in direction, we will go through a process of choice and focus in resource allocation internally. Long-term, we will consider expanding the volume through additional hiring.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: While we inevitably used an omnibus structure because of the preseason, starting from Season 5, stories concerning the true gods will begin to unfold in earnest. In the Commander's journey to find Zero, secrets about the gods and conflicts with new hostile factions will take center stage. Chaos will act as an unknown phenomenon and source of terror, and we will deliver a heavy sense of awe and dread born from humanity's inability to comprehend the gods.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: That is correct. We determined that the preseason lowers the game's tension, so we decided to boldly scrap it starting from Season 6. While there are concerns that consecutive seasons might increase fatigue, we plan to adjust the pacing so that the schedule within seasons remains manageable.

DD Kim Ki-beom: It is cooperative content for two players, designed with mobile environments in mind so that play time doesn't feel burdensome. It starts by selecting only characters without save data, providing preset-style save data instead. Players choose elements like allied joint tactics together to strengthen their decks, and if opinions differ, we added a fun element where they roll dice to decide. Since players can express emotions with emoticons, we expect plenty of hilarious situations, such as an opponent rolling a 20 on the dice and t-bagging.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: First, I deeply apologize for neglecting the sorties. In Season 6, we will improve the overall roguelike environment, and in Season 7, we plan to build a modular environment to leverage the strengths of live games so players can feel fresh roguelike fun every time. In addition, we will reduce the stress users experience while crafting save data and steadily raise the maximum holding capacity. We want to clearly present short-, mid-, and long-term goals to emphasize that Cazena is no longer a 'pottery-carving game.'

Q. Are there plans to increase currency acquisition methods such as Cores?

PD Choi Seung-hyun: Internally, we consider the supply of leveling currency to be sufficient. However, for Cores essential to editing save data, players currently have to grind sorties to acquire them. Moving forward, we plan to provide a generous amount of limited-duration Cores through weekly missions and other content so that sorties aren't strictly forced, allowing acquisition simply through steady play.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: Previously, the content structure centered around major rifts created a vicious cycle where pickup characters were forced upon players. Starting right from Season 6, expanding content will be our top priority, creating an environment where various combatants can be used everywhere, not just in major rifts. The core is to ensure that beloved combatants do not become obsolete with the end of a season.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: Since Cazena is a global one-build, our top priority is making sure no country feels left out. Our main target regions are the US, Japan, China, and South Korea, but broadcasts have tended to center around Korea. If given the opportunity, I would love to run regional event-style communication broadcasts, like eating shows.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: Personally, the cancellation of last year's AGF left me with massive regrets. This year, we are planning booth programs to return the love received from Firsts. Building on the positive response from the half-anniversary cafe, the maid cafe is also collaborating with Japan's Maidreamin, and we have prepared meaningful events in both South Korea and Japan. Beyond that, we want to continue corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities with Firsts, such as donating to underfed children, to help improve public perception.

PD Choi Seung-hyun: I always feel apologetic that things feel lacking. However, plans are firmly set for the game to noticeably change starting with this 1st anniversary and the upcoming Season 6, and development is progressing smoothly. Please forget the poor image and entry barriers, and enjoy the newly transformed Cazena celebrating its 1st anniversary. We will definitely keep the promises we made up to the 2nd anniversary.

DD Kim Ki-beom: The game has changed a lot since the half-anniversary, but through this 1st anniversary and Seasons 6 and 7, we are pouring bone-crushing efforts so that Firsts can genuinely feel, 'It has changed this much.' We ask you to stay with us all the way to the 2nd anniversary.