M2 has officially canceled the development of the game Ubusuna, a shoot ’em up project that was announced back in 2014 by Hiroshi Iuchi, best known as the creator of Ikaruga.
M2's president Naoki Horii announced that the decision was made with a heavy heart, after the project had been in development for years. Ubusuna was led by a team gathered around Iuchi, but due to challenging circumstances, Iuchi resigned, which M2 accepted amicably.
Horii stated that the company considered options for continuing development after Iuchi's departure, but concluded that, given the nature of the project, it would be very difficult to complete Ubusuna without him. Therefore, development in its current form has been halted.
M2 apologized to fans who have been waiting for the game for years, as well as to external collaborators and media who participated in promoting the project. At the same time, it was emphasized that Iuchi has not completely given up on the possibility of one day independently completing Ubusuna outside of M2, although there are currently no concrete plans.
Ubusuna was supposed to be a new game from one of the most renowned authors in the genre, which is why its cancellation will particularly disappoint fans of classic shoot ’em up titles.
