At Gamescom 2025, Cubed3 had the opportunity to sit down with Arc System Works’ Game Director, Hiroshi Nagaki to discuss the upcoming Double Dragon Revive, the newest entry in the long-running Double Dragon series. The last Double Dragon title developed by Arc System Works was 2017’s Double Dragon IV, a retro throwback title made for long-time fans. Double Dragon Revive is instead looking forward, aiming to appeal to its existing audience and bring in new fans for the series.
Along with the interview, Nagaki-san sat Cubed3 writer Joshua Goldie down for a look at the upcoming title, showing off its new game mechanics inspired by Arc System Works’ major fighting game franchises Guilty Gear and BlazBlue. By pulling on the team’s long history developing fighting games, Double Dragon Revive touts better enemy AI and presentation, and pushes for more tactical approaches to combat, utilising each characters unique move-set and attributes, while allowing for the environment and items players pick up to add further combat options. It is a title that provides a ton of variety, which Nagaki-san and his team hope will push the games replayability and bring new experiences to its players.
In addition to Double Dragon Revive, Arc System Works announced a pre-order bonus in the form of Double Dragon Dodgeball, a new variation on the classic 1988 Nintendo Entertainment System title Super Dodge Ball.
Joshua Goldie, Writer at Cubed3: To start with, can you talk through how development on Double Dragon Revive began?
Hiroshi Nagaki, Game Director: Arc System Works is bringing the classic beat-’em-up series Double Dragon back to life with a fresh perspective in Double Dragon Revive. The company has been considering a new entry in the popular series for a while, and the project officially began shortly after the release of Double Dragon IV in 2017. The goal was to find a new direction for the franchise, especially as the company focused on strengthening its action games.
Joshua Goldie: How does Double Dragon Revive fit into the canon of the series? Is it a reboot, a sequel and prequel?
Hiroshi Nagaki: The story, character and settings of Double Dragon Revive are a reboot. They take inspiration from the flow of the original Double Dragon and Double Dragon II but also incorporate entirely new expressions and elements.
Joshua Goldie: Double Dragon Revive is co-developed by Yuke’s. How did the team get involved in the development of this game?
Hiroshi Nagaki: To achieve a fresh and dynamic look for the game, we decided to challenge ourselves with 3D environments, instead of the pixel art of past entries. To bring this vision to life, Arc System Works collaborated with Yuke’s, a company well-known for its wrestling games. The partnership made perfect sense for us, as we wanted to capture the series’ signature violence, particularly through grappling moves like those seen in the previous Yuke’s wrestling titles.
NB: Yuke’s is the primary developer of the WWE releases, dating all the way back to the 2000 PlayStation title WWF SmackDown.
Joshua Goldie: The last Double Dragon game made specifically by Arc Systems Works was Double Dragon IV in 2018. What lessons did your team learn from that game’s development that have helped here with Double Dragon Revive?
Hiroshi Nagaki: Double Dragon IV was a faithful tribute to the retro style of the original series. While it was a complete expression of that nostalgia, it was primarily for existing fans and didn’t succeed in attracting a large, new audience. To ensure the Double Dragon IP continues, it was a necessary condition for us on the development team that the series acquires new fans. With Double Dragon Revive, we have been constantly searching for ways to make the game enjoyable for newcomers, all while ensuring that fans of previous titles will also love it.
Joshua Goldie: Double Dragon is a long-running series that has had many different developers, spin-offs and iterations over the years. What would you say Double Dragon Revive is doing to stand-out from previous entries?
Hiroshi Nagaki: At Arc System Works, we have extensive knowledge in developing fighting game which we have used extensively when making Double Dragon Revive. We have meticulously crafted every detail, from action controls to the meaning behind each move. The classic belt-scrolling genre, with its simple and straightforward gameplay of defeating enemies one after another, has a strength in its accessibility but also a weakness in its tendency to become monotonous. While we remain committed to the belt-scrolling format, we have incorporated numerous elements that benefit the player, such as system enhancements to compensate for the genre’s shortcomings and a wide variety of moves that can be combined for more complex play. Additionally, we have reimagined the story and character designs from scratch, literally “reviving” the series to create a new Double Dragon experience.
Joshua Goldie: Touching upon that fighting game experience quickly, what have you learnt from working on the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series that you were able to bring over to Double Dragon Revive?
Hiroshi Nagaki: Almost all of our fighting game development experience was brought over to Double Dragon. There are many parallels between the two genres, including the multi-layered battle design, the beauty of character animations that capture the flow of movement, and centre of gravity, the creation of appealing character personalities, and the detailed adjustment of move-sets and parameters for both allies and enemies.
Joshua Goldie: There have been quite a few beat ’em up games in recent years, especially from smaller studios. What would you say Double Dragon Revive is doing to make itself stand out from the competition?
Hiroshi Nagaki: As mentioned, the game’s systems are a key focus, but to go into more detail, we’ve emphasised strategic gameplay, particularly with boss battles. The bosses are quite challenging, but a clever player can defeat them with relative ease. We’re aiming for a difficulty level where success isn’t just about mashing buttons or constant retries, but where strategic thinking allows for a satisfying and smooth clear.
Joshua Goldie: You mentioned that Double Dragon Revive is being envisioned as a gateway for new fans to play. Could you go into more detail on the steps being taken to introduce newcomers to both Double Dragon and the belt-scrolling/side-scrolling beat ’em up genre as a whole?
Hiroshi Nagaki: To make the game accessible to a wide range of action game fans, we’ve kept the core conventions of the genre while adding new systems and features to create a modern gaming experience. We’ve implemented the use of a 3D space to express height and depth, for instance, and we’ve added multiple elements that give players systematic bonuses based on their decisions. Additionally, to introduce a new generation of players to Double Dragon, we’ve refined the character designs and revised the world and character settings to ensure they are visually appealing and captivating at first glance.
Joshua Goldie: On the flip-side, the game must also have a ton of reference and love for the previous entries in the series. Is there anything in particular that you hope long-term fans pick up?
Hiroshi Nagaki: While we can’t share all the details, we’ve packed the game with tons of elements that fans of previous titles will appreciate, including the music, story, character backstories, and stage gimmicks. We hope you’ll play the game and discover them for yourselves.
Joshua Goldie: One thing that was quite helpful in putting together these questions was the Developer’s Diary series on Steam. It’s always great getting developer insight like this. What led to the decision to produce this series?
Hiroshi Nagaki: We honestly wanted to build this game together with our users by sharing our thoughts and assumptions during the development process. With modern game development cycles getting longer, we believe the Developer’s Diary is an effective way to keep everyone updated on our progress leading up to the release.
Joshua Goldie: The game has four playable characters: Billy, Jimmy, Marian and Yagyu Ranzo. In the Developer’s Diary they were described as being Balanced, Power, Speed and Ranged focused. Could you share how this focus came about and the steps to achieving it?
Hiroshi Nagaki: When we first set out to differentiate Billy and Jimmy, we drew inspiration from their personalities to define their fighting styles. Billy, with his honest and serious nature, became a standard, balanced character. Jimmy, being more wild, uses moves that are a bit more forceful. Similarly, Marian’s style is graceful and feminine, compensating for her lower power with speed and a high number of attacks. As for Ranzo, who uses “Ninjutsu” instead of the Sou-Setsu-Ken style of the other three, we gave him a unique playstyle with many long-range attacks. For the fine details of implementation and balance, we relied on our extensive know-how from developing fighting games.
Joshua Goldie: Fans who pre-order the game will be receiving Double Dragon Dodgeball, a fun call-back to Super Dodge Ball. Where did the idea for this extra game come about?
Hiroshi Nagaki: For Double Dragon Revive, we’ve completely revamped the design for a new generation of fans and moved to a 3D environment. A major change was even removing the kanji characters for “Sō-Setsu-Ryū” from the title logo. To ensure that fans of the previous games would instantly recognise it as a Double Dragon title, we created a new game as a special bonus: Double Dragon Dodgeball, which is an arranged version of Super Dodge Ball. This idea actually started as a playful thought during the development of another project. We never truly thought it would be realised, so turning it into a promotional item for this game was a pleasant surprise for us, as well.
Joshua Goldie: Double Dragon Revive was recently confirmed to be coming to Nintendo Switch, but recently the launch of Nintendo Switch 2 happened. Could a version for that system come, as well, or will the Nintendo Switch 1 version be enhanced in some way on Switch 2?
Hiroshi Nagaki: We currently have no plans for a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. Of course, the Nintendo Switch 1 version will be playable on the Switch 2, but at this time, there is no new content planned specifically for the new system.
