New .hack Game and Movie On the Way

It's time to return to The World...in Japan, at least.

Long-time RPG fans will probably remember the .hack series (pronounced “dot hack”). It was a fairly successful attempt at episodic gaming, with the first series spanning 4 interconnected games. It also spawned a couple of very popular anime series, and at one time an MMORPG was in development. However, the .hack series has been pretty dormant for quite some time. At least, until now; we’ve learned that a new CG film is in the works, and a new game, as well.

Coming to theaters in Japan on January 21, 2012, .hack//Sekai no Mukou ni, this movie follows a high school girl who discovers the MMORPG “The World.” She appears to end up with the legendary avatar of Kite, the hero from the original game series.

But that’s not all! Legendary Japanese magazine Famitsu reveals a new .hack game this week. While no platform or release date has been announced, the article has screenshots that are reported to have a high level of detail, according to Andriasang. The new game has a working title of simply “.hack”, and one of the screens seems to show Haseyo, the hero from .hack//G.U.

The game will once again be developed by CyberConnect2, the people behind the other games. Most recently, CC2 has done quite a few games in the Naruto franchise, which have been well-received by critics and fans. We will let you know about additional information as we get it.

Our Take

Julian Titus Senior Editor

12/21/2011 at 10:21 PM

I'm a big .hack fan. I enjoyed the first games, and .hack//Sign is one of my favorite anime series, period. I fell off after Key of the Twilight, but this movie looks great. And a current or next-gen .hack? Yes, please.

Angelo Grant Staff Writer

12/22/2011 at 01:13 PM

Having never owned a PS2, I really don't know much about these games. Are they Sony exclusives or does the publisher just see no reason to create an Xbox 360 version?

12/22/2011 at 02:46 PM

I don't think that they have an exclusive deal, but they may just enjoy working with the PS hardware, as their Naruto games have been only on PS3.

12/22/2011 at 03:49 PM

Huh. Interesting. Everybody I've talked to that's into programming (hobbyists and amateurs mind you) told me it's MUCH easier to work on the the Xbox 360. They do PC programming though, so that's probably why, since the systems are similar.

12/22/2011 at 04:10 PM

Yeah, that's been the crux of Japanese development this generation. Since so many engines and tools are based on PC architecture, the Japanese have had a difficult time adapting.

PixlBit