CygamesEdge: “several titles already in motion”—hands-on with “The Land of Collapse” and brand outlook interview [OIGS 2026]

During the September 2026 “State of Play,” a new title called *The Land of Collapse* was announced, featuring an experience where players fall relentlessly toward the depths.

The game is the launch title for “CygamesEdge,” a new brand from Cygames dedicated to delivering “edgy” titles. A world-first playable demo was showcased at the “OSAKA INDIE GAMES SUMMIT 2026,” held recently in Osaka.

In this article, we bring you a report on the demo for the highly anticipated new title *The Land of Collapse*, along with an interview with the brand producer that delves into the vision behind CygamesEdge.

A Bizarre Action Game That Makes You Want to Take on the Plunge, Even Though It’s a Bit Scary

This demo allowed players to experience the game’s core mechanics, in which the protagonist uses various mechanisms to descend deeper and deeper down the World Tree. As noted at the outset, it was labeled a “high-difficulty stage,” and as the player progressed, increasingly precise actions were required.

The basic structure is simple: you traverse platforms by combining movement and jumping. Falling too far from a height deals damage, and falling a certain distance or missing a platform results in a game over.

By borrowing the power of the “Taboo Child,” the protagonist can activate the ability to “float gently” in the air for a short time or create a gust of wind to lift themselves up. By making full use of these abilities and the map’s mechanics, the protagonist continues to descend along the treacherous path.

I tried playing with both a keyboard and mouse and a gamepad, and fine-tuning was quite difficult with both, resulting in controls that provide just the right amount of tension. In close calls—like when you accidentally slip—the character will grab onto the cliff, so even though it’s a close call, it doesn’t immediately lead to a fall, and there were many instances where this saved the day.

A particularly challenging aspect of the game is the wind that blows at key points; even short falls are significantly affected by it, causing you to be blown off course, so even seemingly harmless heights feel tense. Sometimes you’ll aim for a big jump with a gust of wind at your back, which adds variety to the stages.

There are also numerous gameplay elements even within the demo version, such as “lumps” that use the power of the “Taboo Child” to create time-limited platforms, and mechanics where you can defeat roaming enemies by attacking them from above while absorbing the impact to land without taking damage.

Among these, the “Flower Dive”—which enables long-distance falls without taking damage—features a long free-fall duration. Even though you know it’s safe, the initial spine-tingling sensation gives way to the exhilaration of a soft landing, creating a truly mysterious experience.

Since the camera is constantly pointed downward, the visuals—where you can’t clearly see beyond your immediate destination even when peering ahead—further heighten the fear of falling and make the journey feel incredibly long.While there was a long, heart-pounding sensation similar to crossing a suspension bridge, the momentary jolt—such as the ground shaking from the impact of landing and dust swirling in the air—left a strong impression on me.

Another distinctive feature is the absence of background music; being enveloped solely by the sound of the wind blowing through at regular intervals further heightens the tension. Even so, since the “Taboo Child” on my back reacts periodically (though I don’t understand the meaning of her words), I felt a sense of reassurance rather than loneliness.

As I continued playing and got used to it, my sense of adventure gradually began to outweigh the tension, allowing me to try more “aggressive” playstyles in the high-action areas. Since you can restart immediately from a nearby checkpoint even after falling, the experience feels casual, and as time went on, the gameplay became far more exhilarating than I had imagined.

That’s how I reached the end of the demo in about 26 minutes. There were spots where I unexpectedly found a shortcut, and others where—even though I understood the route—I fell repeatedly, so I immediately started another run. This seems like an element that will really appeal to gamers who enjoy “mastering the game,” such as through time attacks.

Is “CygamesEdge’s” debut title the culmination of a “10-year vision”?

At the OIGS venue, we interviewed Shuichiro Hamada, Brand Producer at CygamesEdge who also serves as Producer for *The Land of Collapse*. He answered our questions on both the title and the new brand.

――First, please introduce yourself.

Hamada: My name is Hamada from Cygames. After gaining experience as a project manager and director at a game development company, and then working as a director at a video production company, I joined Cygames in 2018.At the time, the company was in the process of launching its console division, and I worked on console titles—including those related to *Granblue Fantasy*—as a production assistant. More recently, I served as producer for *Uma Musume: Pretty Derby—The Passionate, Chaotic Grand Thanksgiving Festival!*.

Currently, I serve as the brand producer for the entire “CygamesEdge” brand, as well as the producer for *The Land of Collapse*.

――First, let’s talk about your latest title, *The Land of Collapse*. What led to the creation of this game, which focuses on the experience of falling?

Hamada: Actually, this title originated from an in-house game contest in which volunteer teams and individuals participated.It’s a contest where employees present games they’ve created outside of work hours, and the best entries are selected. During the planning phase for launching the brand, the idea came up: “Could we commercialize on Steam the titles that received high internal ratings in the game contest?” The timing worked out perfectly, and we were able to make it happen.

――So it was an idea that had been circulating among the in-house creators for some time.

Hamada: Apparently, the original creator had been nurturing this idea for nearly 10 years. There were three whole binders full of notes packed with his vision—including the setting where the protagonist carries a “taboo child” on his back, the game’s world, and his creative goals.The prototype from the solo development phase was very primitive—just a gray background that conveyed nothing but the gameplay mechanic of “endlessly descending”—but the title, *The Land of Collapse*, had already been decided.

From there, as we developed it into a commercial product, we took the creator’s vision to heart while sharpening the elements that needed it, eventually settling on its current form.

――So it’s not only “CygamesEdge’s” debut title, but also a major project that’s been 10 years in the making.

Hamada: That’s right. It’s undoubtedly a major project, especially for the original creator himself, and we feel the same way.

――On the other hand, you’ve already announced—including in the promotional video—that the game can be cleared in about three hours. Could you tell us about the reasoning behind this time frame and why you chose to disclose it?

Hamada: We were very conscious of that when we included it in the promotional video. I feel that these days, users’ values regarding games and the way they engage with them have become quite diverse. Personally, due to the nature of my job, I play a lot of games, but of course, I also have work and a family. Plus, since I’ve always loved entertainment, I’m subscribed to every streaming service under the sun… so I’m absolutely short on time.

If it’s a title I’m really looking forward to, I might be able to push through even if it’s said to take “50 hours to complete,” but that’s not the case for every title, and there’s a limit to how much time I can carve out. With that in mind, we set this time frame to allow players to experience—in a compact package—the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment that comes from “thoroughly completing a single game from start to finish.”

――So the diversification of entertainment—including options beyond games—is the underlying factor, then.

Hamada: I think there are still relatively few titles that explicitly state, “You can finish this in this amount of time,” but I definitely feel that demand for this is growing. That’s why we announced from the very beginning that the game would be “3 hours long.”

――Actually, when I heard “3 hours,” I thought, “That’s convenient—I’m glad” (laughs).

We deliberately made it feel “clunky” to heighten the tension

――Next, regarding the game’s content, since this is a distinctive title centered around repeated falls, could you tell us about the specific attention to detail you paid to the presentation?

Hamada: The development team had many discussions about what the key element should be for the core “constant descent” action.

We’re aware that people on social media have pointed out similarities to other games, but if we take the model where “the higher you climb, the more the time you’ve accumulated vanishes in an instant, heightening the tension” as an example, that would actually mean “the more you descend, the more the tension fades.” So we felt we couldn’t approach it with the same logic.

So we simply decided to “maximize the fear of physical height.” It’s that heart-clenching, spine-tingling sensation—which the development team calls the “Chinsabu feeling”—and we went through a lot of trial and error to enhance it.

――What kind of changes did you go through?

Hamada: At one point, we had an alpha version that could be played for about 30 minutes, but even taking into account that the staff playing it were already used to the controls, it didn’t feel very scary and wasn’t very fun.

We discussed it at length within the planning team, but the development company, Zeleo, had already created action sequences at that stage that were incredibly responsive and precise—with a fantastic sense of control. However, we worried that the controls were too responsive—allowing players to control their movements exactly as intended—which meant that even when the footing got narrower, it didn’t translate into a sense of fear.

From there, we tinkered extensively with the action control parameters, and after much trial and error, we deliberately adjusted the movement to feel more “raw”—or, to put it somewhat negatively, a bit “clumsy.” As soon as we did that, even on the same level, the sense of unease changed completely, and we decided to stick with this direction.

――So by refining that “raw, human-like” movement, you were able to evoke a sense of fear. What about the visuals?

Hamada: Visually, both the backgrounds and characters have a filter applied that makes them look like paintings in still images, but we designed it so that this effect isn’t as strong in the distant scenery.

These days, in 3D games featuring characters with realistic proportions, it’s common to make the characters look crisp while adding deep detail, and then use a shallow depth of field for the background to create a contrast that makes the whole scene look beautiful.

However, in the distant scenery of *The Land of Collapse*, if we were to use a shallow depth of field, the sense of height would be significantly diminished, which would actually be counterproductive. So, through comprehensive adjustments—such as choosing not to apply filters in those areas—we worked to maximize the “tension of falling.”

――It’s an exquisite way of rendering the distant landscape—you can see far into the distance and understand just how high it is, yet you can’t quite make out the end point, right?

Hamada: That’s right. We put a lot of care into crafting it.

Bringing experimental and cutting-edge experiences to the world. Multiple titles are already in development

――Moving on, I’d like to ask about the “CygamesEdge” brand as a whole. I was particularly struck by the concept presented in the announcement of its establishment: “small- to medium-scale development” and “edgy gaming experiences.” Could you elaborate on this again?

Hamada: At Cygames, we’ve long pursued the best possible content to delight our users through long-term development projects supported by large-scale development teams, such as *Uma Musume* and *Granblue Fantasy*.

At the same time, we believe that as the gaming market and users’ values continue to change and diversify, game development now requires more flexible thinking and the ability to adapt to change more quickly than ever before.

――Your perspective on playtime mentioned earlier is a good example of that, isn’t it?

Hamada: That’s exactly right. Amid these changes in the market and user values, “CygamesEdge” is a new game brand we launched to leverage the agility unique to small- and medium-scale titles—backed by the development capabilities Cygames has cultivated—and to create experimental and slightly edgy gaming experiences.

By unearthing challenging projects that tend to get buried in the shadow of large-scale projects and creating a cycle where opportunities are passed on to young creators, we expect this to generate momentum for Cygames as a whole.

――Is your policy to actively embrace new technologies and take on new challenges?

Hamada: Yes, that’s correct. Of course, since budgets and development timelines are more limited compared to Cygames as a whole, our motto is to actively incorporate new technologies and other innovations. There are even cases where we consult internally—saying, “How about trying this with CygamesEdge…?”—and receive special cooperation as an exception.

――It’s easy to imagine a process where you test new methods and technologies in this way and then feed those insights back into Cygames as a whole.

Hamada: That would be wonderful if we could make it happen. At CygamesEdge, we’ve established three core values, one of which is “Creativity & Reach.” This reflects our desire to deliver a diverse range of content to as many customers as possible, without being overly constrained by genre, language, or region.

Cygames has established a clear image as a developer of “classic sword-and-sorcery RPGs” and “character-based content,” and while that is certainly one of our strengths, we believe that by taking on challenges in genres completely new to us through CygamesEdge, we can broaden the scope of Cygames as a whole.

――So, will the titles you handle going forward continue to be original IPs?

Hamada: That is our basic policy. I can’t say definitively that “there will absolutely be no spin-offs of existing IPs,” but we aren’t planning on that at this point. In fact, I envision a future where IPs born from CygamesEdge grow to such a scale that they come to represent Cygames itself—that’s the dream I’m holding onto.

――I see. That’s certainly a possibility. You mentioned that publishing and co-development are also on the horizon—are there any projects already underway in parallel with *The Land of Collapse*?

Hamada: Yes. First, regarding development, we already have multiple titles in production simultaneously. As for publishing, we don’t intend for CygamesEdge to be a brand that simply takes completed projects or works and releases them; rather, we hope to be able to roll out titles in a way that suits our partners.

There may be in-house titles developed entirely by small teams within Cygames, and we’ll also adopt a collaborative format with development studios, as we’ve done with *The Land of Collapse*.While there are several possible development models, we’re eager to work with partner companies or individual developers who are committed to creating the most distinctive products possible, even within limited budgets and timeframes.

――The approach taken this time—where a game originated from an idea by an in-house creator and was developed in collaboration with an external development studio—is quite unique, isn’t it?

Hamada: We may see similar approaches in the future, and it’s also entirely possible that we’ll work together on projects based on pitches from development studios. While technological advancements have made it possible to run development teams with fewer people, there still aren’t that many studios capable of seeing a single title through to completion with unwavering dedication—and that’s a real strength.

If we can form partnerships where we maximize that strength while complementing the other aspects, I believe we’ll be able to create truly outstanding works.

――There are numerous titles on display at the OIGS venue today, and I feel the indie game industry is thriving. Amid this, could you tell us what points “CygamesEdge” is focusing on, or perhaps share your vision for “the kind of presence you’d like to become”?

Hamada: First off, we don’t view “CygamesEdge” as a brand that “makes indie games.” However, since it is a brand focused on small- to medium-scale titles, our main market will be based on Steam, and I think we’ll be competing in a market teeming with everything from individual indie developers to AAA titles.

I think the genres and gameplay will naturally take on an “indie-like” character, and I’d really like to build strong relationships with everyone in this vibrant indie community—just like the excitement we’re seeing here at this event.

As Cygames, we aim to create a cycle where the entire industry benefits as we announce new games and invigorate the market, and we’ll continue to actively participate in events and other activities. We hope to build a strong community with the mindset that you’ll “make good use of us.”

――We’re looking forward to the future developments of *The Land of Collapse* and “CygamesEdge.” Thank you very much for your time today!

*The Land of Collapse* is scheduled for release on November 5 for PC (Steam), PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2.