Yandere Simulator is an upcoming stealth action video game currently in development and created by game director, Yandere Dev. The game follows an obsessively lovesick schoolgirl named Ayano Aishi, also known as “Yandere-chan” named after the Japanese term “yandere”, who has taken it upon herself to eliminate anyone she believes is grabbing her crush’s attention. Over the course of ten weeks, Ayano will eliminate ten different rivals by Friday afternoon at 6:00pm or she will lose her ‘Senpai’ forever to her rival.
The game has not only reached massive popularity with gamers around the world, but is known as one of the top free-to-play games. Yandere Simulator doesn’t only allow players to roam around a high school as a Yandere communicating with students and joining clubs within your playtime at the school, it also has a dark theme to the game where you can murder, kidnap and befriend anyone in the school including Yandere-chan’s rivals that will try to take her ‘Senpai’ away from her. Here at Verge, got to interview the game’s creator Yandere Dev, to get a deeper understanding of the character and the game.
What gave you the idea to create Yandere Simulator?
Before I started developing Yandere Simulator, I had a ton of other game ideas, and developed a bunch of simple game prototypes. However, I lacked the models and animations necessary to actually turn those prototypes into finished games, so none of them left the prototype stage. I decided that my next game should be designed around models and animations that I had access to, so I could finally go further than prototyping.
I searched for models in an online store, and spotted an “anime schoolgirl” character model. This made me try to imagine a game with an anime schoolgirl for a protagonist. I asked a friend of mine for suggestions, and he proposed a “delinquent simulator”. I tried to imagine the most extreme version of that idea, which made me envision a game about a serial-killer, instead of mere delinquency. I asked myself what kind of schoolgirl would kill people, and instantly thought of the “yandere” archetype – a character that kills because of jealousy.
I asked a high-traffic message board if they would be interested in a “yandere simulator”, and received a very positive response. All of my previous game ideas had not generated very much interest or excitement, so when I saw people getting hyped about this “yandere simulator” idea, I knew that it had potential to be a successful game. Just one thread about the game was enough to convince me to begin developing it immediately.
We know the game is in development right now and features are being added every month, but which one is your favourite feature and why?
It’s hard to pick! My favourite feature is always the most recent feature I’ve implemented, because it’s so gratifying to see new features go into the game.
The game has a total of ten rivals to go up against with different personalities, hobbies and roles in the school. Will the rivals get harder the more you progress through the story also which rival is your favourite?
Yes! That’s the idea; each rival should be more difficult to eliminate than the previous one. My favourite rival is Megami, the final rival, since I enjoy coming up with devious new ways to make her more challenging than every rival who came before her.
How long have you been working on Yandere Simulator?
I’ve been working on Yandere Simulator since April 1st 2014.
As you know the game has hit enormous popularity on YouTube like Denzel Curry’s Vengeance music video also Markiplier and more famous YouTubers playing the game on their YouTube channels. Did you ever imagine the game to be this successful and popular?
Nope! I really didn’t. I figured that it would be played by maybe 100 or 200 people. The game became far more popular than I ever anticipated!
What was the hardest feature that you added to the game and why?
Technically, each new feature added to the game is always the hardest, because it has to mesh well with all of the other features. However, I’m inclined to say that the most difficult feature to add to the game was the Matchmaking feature, a minigame that allows the player to make two characters fall in love with one another. At the time, there weren’t any other video games with “matchmaking” gameplay, so I couldn’t look to other video games for wisdom, and I had to rely on my own creativity and criticial thinking skills to design and build the matchmaking system.
What would you consider the age limit to play Yandere Simulator?
I anticipate that Yandere Simulator will get an “M for Mature” rating, so I suppose this means that a person should be at least 18 years old before playing Yandere Sim.
How much mail do you get from fans that enjoy the game?
It varies; when I release a hot update, there is a lot of hype around the game, and I get a lot of mail. But in the periods between new features, when I am not releasing updates, I receive much less mail.
When do you think the final release date for the game will be and will it still be free-to-play?
It’s extremely difficult to predict. I initially imagined that the game would be finished in January of 2019, but a lot of wrenches have been thrown into the game’s development over the past year, and a 2019 release is looking unlikely at this point in time. There are too many factors to make an accurate estimate at this point in time, but I’ve got my fingers crossed for a 2020 release.
Of course being that the game is based on an Anime genre style, do you personally like Anime and if so which is your favourite?
I love Anime! My favorite is Neon Genesis Evangelion!
For gamers and Anime fans, Yandere Simulator is a highly recommended must play. But beware for this game is only recommended for mature audiences who are above the age of 18 or over.
How do you play Yandere Simulator? Go to the official website and download the game only for PC and be sure to check out the game’s YouTube channel and website, details here:
Yandere Simulator’s Official Website
Yandere Simulator’s Official YouTube Channel
Yandere Simulator – Official Live-Action Trailer:
Yandere Simulator – Official Rival Introduction Trailer:
