2025 has been a year packed full of weird and wonderful games, but sitting on the throne of weirdness is undoubtedly Promise Mascot Agency. I don’t even know what the weirdest aspect of this bizarrely compelling game is. Maybe it’s the psychotic Pinky, who is a disembodied finger with a bad attitude. Or perhaps it’s the enemies that are narrow doors or uneven curbs you have to fight with cards. Even the fact that the game is an open world driving game is weird, because all you drive is a beaten up old truck. Few games this year made me smile more though, and in a year of bangers that’s saying a lot.
To say there aren’t any games quite like Promise Mascot Agency would be a hell of an understatement, so when I was offered the chance to interview one of the wonderful minds behind it I had to say yes. In this delightful chat with Oli Clarke Smith (Game Director) we talked about the addition of free grinding content since launch, the star studded voice cast, and of course the mascots itself. I have it on good authority that anyone that doesn’t check out this exclusive interview will have Pinky to deal with, so for that alone you’d better keep reading.
Before playing Promise Mascot Agency I was not expecting a game with so much driving, why was this such a prominent part of this game about mascots?
We wanted to make an open world game, and as a small team we needed to make one within our limits. We knew we wanted to make a Japanese town that was large enough to drive around, and we knew that we couldn’t do vehicle and on foot due to our team size. We wanted to make a game that was about managing mascots, but also about exploring a town, blending management with open world RPG.
Recently, grinding was added to the game in a free update, was this a mechanic you planned to include in the original release?
It wasn’t something that cut from the original release, but something that our vehicle programmer wanted to experiment with. He’d been interested in it for a while, and when we decided to do the update, we gave him the time to figure it out and see if it could be done.
The enemies your mascots face in Promise Mascot Agency include a narrow door and uneven steps. How did you come up with wonderfully silly opponents?
We looked at a lot of ref of real life mascots, either at actual mascot events, or doing silly things on Japanese comedy shows. The team generated loads of ideas and we selected the ones that fit within our framework. Right from the beginning we knew that we needed to showcase the physical humour of mascots and needed battles that would surprise people.
Despite being a game about unhinged mascots the core of Promise Mascot Agency is a management game. How did you balance the money making side of things with the wackyness of the world?
Almost everything in the game is linked, so that what you do in the world influences the management simulation, which in turn changes the world. This is combined with Kaizen never wanting to make a realistic game, and freeing ourselves from expectations. We like writing wacky and strange characters, and the management gameplay was designed to be flexible enough to incorporate these weirdos.
There are some big names in voice acting featured in Promise Mascot Agency like Takaya Kuroda, what was it like working with them?
All of that was handled by our amazing localiser, Tsurumi-san. He put out the casting call and Kuroda-san just turned up without asking. Most of the actors live in Tokyo and had to learn the Kyushu dialect due to the game’s setting. Tsurumi-san and all the actors did an amazing job, and thankfully for me, it was an entirely stress-free part of the process for the team in the UK!
What is it about mascots that made you interested in making a game about running a mascot agency?
Our art director, Rachel, had the original concept for the game, and she loved seeing Japanese mascot culture when we visited, and also in travel shows on Youtube. Rachel really likes cute and weird characters, and there are a lot of mascots that fit that. She figured that it would be cool to do a management game where you care about each unique character, rather than sending a bunch of nameless peons to do your work.
Who is your favourite mascot in the game? And you’re not allowed to say Pinky!
To-Fu is probably my favourite (other than Pinky), because he was the first non-prototype mascot that went in the game, and he was my test case for everything we did for about four years. To-Fu and I went through everything together.
Do you have any favourite real world mascots that inspired Promise Mascot Agency?
We wanted to capture the style of some mascots like Melon Kuma, that mix local culture with the character design. Melon Kuma is interesting because parts of the design are cute, and others horrifying. We also wanted the chaotic energy of Chitan.
Would you be interested in making sequels to either Promise Mascot Agency or Paradise Killer?
Absolutely! We have ideas for both…
What’s next for Kaizen Game Works?
We’re currently working on a prototype for our next game before we try to secure funding for it. It is a very different genre for us, but is a game we’ve wanted to make for decades. Please assume the anticipation position…
Thanks to Oli for his time.
Promise Mascot Agency is out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S|X.
