TINY METAL 2 Adds Overwatch Writer And Anime Project, AREA35 Says
AREA35 is answering the remake era by funding new IP and new staff, which Yura framed as the reason to back the title now.
Key Facts
- AREA35 representative Hiroaki Yura discussed TINY METAL 2 in an interview at Tokyo Game Show 2026.
- TINY METAL 2 development follows the original TINY METAL, which Yura said added flanking attacks and visibility rules to a Famicom Wars-inspired foundation.
- New character Lysandra is designed by Yusuke Kozaki and works as a shop clerk rather than a playable unit.
- Former Blizzard writer Michael Chu wrote the TINY METAL 2 story, with script localization handled by a writer credited on Ace Attorney titles.
- Yura said the TINY METAL 2 anime adaptation is progressing through contacts including CG director Hiroyasu Kobayashi.
Reporting from 2 sources: Inside, Game Spark.
Hiroaki Yura, the representative and creator of studio AREA35, discussed TINY METAL 2 at Tokyo Game Show 2026 in an interview at the studio's booth. Yura said the project began because he loves Nintendo's Famicom Wars and decided to make a strategy game himself when no remake appeared. The sequel follows the original TINY METAL, which he said removed unit congestion and added flanking attacks, plus visibility rules where enemies cannot be attacked unless spotted and radar reveals them. Development is ongoing, and Yura described the team as about 200 people, up from roughly 13 years ago. New character Lysandra is a shop clerk designed by Yusuke Kozaki, not a playable unit. Former Blizzard writer Michael Chu wrote the story, with script localization handled by a writer credited on Ace Attorney titles. An anime adaptation is in progress through contacts including CG director Hiroyasu Kobayashi.
Two outlets that ran the Tokyo Game Show interview disagree on the size of the team. Game Spark puts the studio at about 200 people, up from roughly 13 years ago. Inside says the company has grown to about 120 people and later appended a correction notice dated October 5, 2026. The interview was conducted at AREA35's booth.
Yura gave more detail on how Michael Chu's script moved between languages. Because Chu cannot write Japanese, he wrote the story first; Hirotaka Inaba, credited on the Tantei Jinguuji Saburo series and Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, then localized it. Yura described the process as incorporating Japanese DNA and turning it back into English.
The anime push has its own origin. Yura said a barista in an Atlanta cafe talked with him about anime in depth, which convinced him American awareness of the medium had climbed. He wants the adaptation to carry story that games cannot, since players choose the timing in a game while anime moves from A to B.
Other projects tied to the booth:
- A real robot exhibition, a collaboration with Asratec's Wataru Yoshizaki, arranged through an introduction from Yoichi Ochiai.
- Project Phoenix, which Yura said is still alive.
Lysandra grew out of advice Yura received at Paris Games Week that the cast needed a character players would want to marry. TINY METAL 2's UI team is American staff who studied UX at game design schools, and the tutorial is optional and built to be entertainment itself. The development team's average age is 29.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.