Yoko Taro Originally Pitched Voice of Cards as a Mobile Game

Voice of Cards creative director Yoko Taro said the game was initially pitched as a mobile social game. He revealed this during Square Enix’s Voice of Cards panel at Tokyo Game Show 2021. However, executive producer Yosuke Saito later convinced Yoko to release the game as a consumer title. Saito cited the time commitments required for developing social games.

Yoko Taro pitched the game as a mobile title due to the higher hurdles involved in pitching and developing consumer games. Instead, he had intended to work on Voice of Cards as a “smaller, compact mobile game.” He pitched the title with character designer Kimihiko Fujisaka.

Upon receiving the pitch, Yosuke Saito asked to change the game to a multiplatform consumer title, as modern social games “would not be compact.” Furthermore, Saito worried that Yoko would be unable to manage his work due to the number of social games he was already managing. One of these, NieR Re[in]carnation, recently launched globally. Narrator Hiroki Yasumoto added that releasing Voice of Cards as a one-time purchase also benefits the team. This approach made the game comparatively more niche and refined, Yasumoto said.

Additionally, Square Enix showcased some gameplay footage of Voice of Cards. It also showed physical editions of the game. This includes the bonus metal cards currently available for pre-order at the Square Enix eStore.

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars will release on PC, Nintendo Switch, and PS4 on October 28, 2021. A demo is out now.