Danganronpa 3 in development, still in its 'very early' stages

Spike Chunsoft is working on the third main entry of its murder mystery role-playing sim series, Danganronpa, but nothing in the new title is "really set in stone," writer Kazutaka Kodaka told Polygon via translator.

In Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and its sequel, Goodbye Despair, players assume the role of a high school student trapped in a closed-room scenario. Characters are given the chance to escape by committing murder, but only if they can get away with it; to be caught is to be executed.

Speaking about his process, Kodaka said that it's common for the game's story and its characters to change several times.

"Until everything's been written, there's nothing that's set," Kodaka said. "So to answer your question, it's still very early because the scenario isn't written yet."

While both main games have included similar setups — being trapped in a school or on an island, respectively — the series itself has expanded. Spinoff title Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, for example, is more of an action-adventure game. Although it's possible that Danganronpa 3 could play out in a similar fashion to its predecessor, Kodaka said fans have been vocal about wanting something different. That includes ditching a new story and focusing on the series' overall narrative.

"It's pretty much split in the middle in Japan," Kodaka said. "Half of them want to continue with [a] small group and what happens within there, and the other half wants more of the bigger story."

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair were released in the U.S. last year; the third game hasn't been announced for a Western release yet. A representative for publisher NIS America told Polygon, "We'd love to do it if we had the opportunity to."

For more on Danganronpa, check out our reviews of Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair. Stay tuned for our full interview with Kodaka.