Interview: Goddess of Victory Nikke's dev team tell all about the hit shooter for its 4th anniversary
- Goddess of Victory: Nikke, the hit over-the-shoulder shooter, is celebrating its 4th anniversary
- And we got a chance to chat with the dev team about their continued success
- Find out a little bit about how characters are designed, scenarios made and more
With Goddess of Victory: Nikke's fourth anniversary event just having taken place, the hit character-collecting shooter is riding high on its enduring popularity. This got us a bit curious about how things work behind the scenes with the folks at Shift Up.
So, we got the chance not only to put our questions to the dev team as a whole, but also to some specific members, such as graphics group lead Park Sanghu! Read on to find out more about what they had to say about this massive milestone year for Goddess of Victory: Nikke.
General Dev Team
Over the past four years, what have been the most exciting moments for Goddess of Victory: Nikke?With NIKKE, we've always hoped to create events where mini-games, the 3D field, the story, the music, and the characters all come together and bring out the best in each other.
From that point of view, OVER ZONE was probably the most thrilling moment for us. It was the first time our vision for an event landed the way we hoped it would.
Honestly, if we could pick more than one, we would say every single anniversary event, because every anniversary and half-anniversary event has been a challenge for us, and each time the response from our Commanders has been gratifying.
While Nikke was seen as something of a novelty on launch, its success since has propelled Shift Up to new heights of popularity. Why do you think that is?We think there are so many games out there in the world, each offering something different to enjoy. NIKKE has a lot to offer too, but we would say the story has played the biggest part in its success.
We think a game's appeal depends on the timing being right. Fortunately, it seems the kind of experience we wanted to offer reached players at just the right time. In that sense, we've been genuinely lucky, and we're always grateful to our Commanders for the love they show to NIKKE.
Our design priorities vary depending on the Nikke's affiliation. For a manufacturer-affiliated Nikke, what matters is a design where the character's personality and concept come through at a glance—something that catches your interest and makes it easy to see the character's appeal.
Pilgrims, on the other hand, need to feel distinct from regular Nikkes. We want anyone who sees them to be left with a striking, flamboyant impression, so we focus on Nikke's signature original details and a high level of design intricacy, which give it a distinctive look.
Can you give us an insight into what's next for Nikke headed into 2027 and beyond?Just as we previewed in the Developer's Note, and as demonstrated by some of the content showcased during the 4th Anniversary, we plan to continue building out features and systems that let players get even deeper into the story. We will share a more detailed roadmap in a future Developer's Note, so please stay tuned.
With the addition of Spanish text language support in the 4th Anniversary update, are there plans to have more regional content updates? Are there any plans for full voice language support in Spanish or other languages?First of all, we are thrilled that we are now able to support Spanish in the game. Because we dedicate so much passion and effort to our story, We hope that Spanish language support brings enjoyment to even more of our Commanders.
Our hope is that even more fans will be able to enjoy wonderful experiences with NIKKE through offline events and expanded text language options in the future.
We will do everything we can to help make that a reality.
Park Sanghu (Graphics Group Lead)
What makes Nikke's graphical style so distinct?We would say Nikke's distinctive art style comes from the balance between three things: subtle rendering that brings out the full appeal of each character, a very high density of detail, and bold staging that ties it all together.
In particular, it's important to us to bring out each character's unique personality and silhouette while giving the same care to the finer details, from costumes and equipment to the texture of each material.
On top of that, we use lighting, colour, and composition to show each character at their best. We think that combination is what makes Nikke's art style so distinctive.
Jeong Jaesong (Scenario Director)
How do you design Nikke's scenarios to appeal to players?Our design priorities vary depending on the Nikke's affiliation. For a manufacturer-affiliated Nikke, what matters is a design where the character's personality and concept come through at a glance—something that catches your interest and makes it easy to see the character's appeal.
Pilgrims, on the other hand, need to feel distinct from regular Nikkes. We want anyone who sees them to be left with a striking, flamboyant impression, so we focus on Nikke's signature original details and a high level of design intricacy, which give it a distinctive look.
Ju Jonghyeon a.k.a. Cosmograph (Sound Director)
How did you approach the soundscape of Nikke? Stuff like the music, SFX and whatnot?We believe that sound in games is more of a feedback element. That's why we always keep in mind what the top priority should be in each situation when working on the sound.
For interactions such as Character Touch SFX, our top priority is to bring out each character's charm. For Maria-n in the 4th Anniversary update, we wanted to further emphasise the musical contrast between different situations. We created a clear distinction between the music before and after meeting the Commander. By reducing the overall musical density, we aimed to bring each text-based action to life through sound.
Special message
Do you have anything to tell the fans of Goddess of Victory: Nikke?We're always grateful to everyone who has continued to trust us and wait patiently.
We will do our utmost to deliver a better game and an improved service.
Now that what could be considered Part 1 of the story has largely unfolded, we believe we can offer players a fresher and more exciting experience in Part 2. Please continue to support us going forward, and we wish you all good health
Some pretty interesting tidbits about what Nikke's development process is like, and a couple of hints about the future! While Nikke has had a rocky month with their recent PC launcher troubles, it seems that was only a bit of a stumble. So hopefully, in the future we'll see Goddess of Victory: Nikke once more going from strength to strength.
Of course, to do that they'll also have to cope with some other up-and-coming competitors. You can check out some of the biggest hits of the past year making waves on smartphones with our list of the best mobile games of 2026 (so far)!
