Qureate President Discusses Cut Mini-Games and Mod Views in Bunny Garden 2 Interview
The interview positions qureate as the dominant home console developer in a market segment that Usuda describes as facing increasing headwinds, with the company choosing volume and accessibility over premium pricing to sustain its audience.
Reporting from 3 sources: GameBusiness.jp, Game Spark, Inside.
Qureate president Yujiro Usuda gave an interview published across multiple Japanese outlets on May 21 and 22 discussing the company's latest title, Bunny Garden 2, and the broader state of "sexy games" on home consoles. Usuda said the sequel's reception exceeded expectations, with daily sales remaining strong and recent downloadable content performing well. He described the development as having nearly double the man-hours of the original, with the scenario being the most challenging aspect, particularly for returning characters whose stories were rewritten from scratch in a "different world line." Usuda stated he wanted to sell the game at full price but chose a mid-range price point to make it accessible, comparing the company's approach to "B-grade gourmet" rather than high-end cuisine. He also addressed the decision to cut certain "gentlemanly mini-games" from the final release, calling it a reluctant but necessary choice, and shared the company's stance on user-created mods for their titles.
Usuda said the sequel's initial sales speed was faster than the original, which benefited from streamer coverage and "started moderately and then suddenly took off." He noted that cumulative sales of the first game remain ahead, but the sequel has not seen the typical series decline. User satisfaction, he said, "is definitely higher than the previous game."
The interview was conducted by writer Yuzuru Fushimachi and edited by Akira Horie. Usuda described the development as having nearly double the man-hours of the original, with the scenario being the most challenging aspect. For returning characters Kana, Rin, and Miuha, the game is set in a "different world line," meaning their stories were rewritten from scratch. "It was really hard to make it so that even people who played the previous game would want to conquer her again," Usuda said of Kana's new arc.
Usuda compared qureate's market positioning to "B-grade gourmet" rather than high-end cuisine, choosing a mid-range price to keep the game accessible. He said the full-price tier is "dominated by AAA titles" and even cheap indie games offer dozens of hours of play. The company is developing additional DLC that will add new karaoke songs for each of the six characters.
On the same day the interview was published, IID announced that the original Bunny Garden is now available on the Gemmide service, which sells Steam keys bundled with L-size bromides that can be printed at convenience stores nationwide. The bromide set costs 3,480 yen and features one design.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.