Cygames takes ownership of Metal Max IP and works on its new project

Cygames announced that they have acquired the Metal Max IP, which was previously owned by Kadokawa Games. The series creator Hiroshi "Miya-oh" Miyaoka has also joined Cygames as a game director, and he will be working with the company's game producer Kenichiro Takaki. The two are going to lead the development of a new Metal Max Project game that they will release on consoles.

The Metal Max series comprises turn-based RPGs that take place in a post-apocalyptic world. The protagonist is usually given a customizable vehicle like a tank that they can use to travel around the world and fight against their enemies.

The series has spawned many entries in Japan since 1991, and Kenichiro Takaki was also quoted saying that "Metal Max was one of the many great games that fascinated" him during his school years. But only a handful of them received a Western localization. The PS2 game Metal Saga was the first one to be officially released in North America in 2006. More recently NIS America released Metal Max Xeno for PS4 and Vita in September 2018, and PQube localized Metal Max Xeno Reborn—the same-generation remake of the former—in June 2022.

This IP transfer news came not long after Kadokawa Games cancelled Metal Max Wild West. The previous publisher did not provide further news on Wild West after its last reveal in mid-2021. Other outstanding projects like Code Zero may also be as good as abandoned, but Cygames' new game project may give new expectations to followers of the long-running Japanese RPG series.