Level-5 CEO and Founder Akihiro Hino shared an update on its upcoming game Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and in it he confirmed Keiji Inafune is no longer part of the company or project. As a result, Hino replaced him as producer on the title. He explained that is one of the reasons the JRPG and life sim experienced so many delays. He also promised it is the largest entry in the series so far.
Keiji Inafune joined Level-5 back in June 2017. That was when Level-5 acquired the developer and made the studio Level-5 Comcept. He worked on Dragon & Colonies there. That shut down in February 2020. One of his other projects in recent years was Red Ash: The Indelible Legend, which never came to fruition in part due to a failed crowdfunding campaign.
As a reminder, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time was revealed in February 2023, and Keiji Inafune was confirmed as producer for the Level-5 game at that time. It got pushed out of 2023 into 2024. It was supposed to launch in Summer 2024 at one point. Inafune was still a part of the project at that time. It was then delayed out of October 2024, then out of April 2025. It is now finally expected to launch on May 21, 2025.
It seems like things could be more stable. Hino noted, “All game data has been completed, and we are currently making the final balance adjustments.” He cited the delays allowed someone to update the UI and implement cross-play and cross-save compatibility.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time will come to the Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC on May 21, 2025.
Published: Mar 3, 2025 11:30 am