Explanation about why there won't be a Season 2.

[Arale//Zero]

A lot of people (especially in the reviews) seem to either be annoyed at there not being a season 2 or have hope in one, somehow. In the worst cases, people have been rude to director Swery on twitter or refused to support him over it.

This should be simple to anyone willing to research it, but the circumstances as to why there won't be a season 2 are very understandable.

Swery directed his three games (Spy Fiction, Deadly Premonition and D4) at Access Games, which he was a founding member of but was not in a managing position. Going off of some of the things he's vaguely tweeted about, it seems as though there was a bit of resentment towards the fact that he was the most well-known and famous member of the company despite not being a "superior". (Japanese company culture, perhaps.)

This seems to have come to a head when he took a year-long break from development due to health issues. Obviously, we aren't privy to the details, but in the end he left Access Games, seemingly of his own volition but again we don't know the details.

Swery's new company, White Owls, is where he's directing his two new upcoming games (The Missing and The Good Life). White Owls does not hold the IP rights to Swery's past works, and thus they can't create sequels such as a Season 2.

"Can Swery work with Access again?" He has stated that he will never work with them again.

"Can Swery buy the rights back?" This has been discussed, and Swery's response was to ask the fans to think through how that would work and where that money would be going. Reading between the lines, he seems to be saying that he doesn't want to give Access any money.

I hope this answers anybody's questions. And yes, he *wants* to make a Season 2. There just doesn't seem to be any way to go about it.

[neozanmato]

This is the post I was looking for. Thank you for being so informative.

[𝕮𝖗𝖚𝖓𝖐...]

Interesting, thank you.

[riv3rbird]

A well written and informative post on a forum *gulp* thanks

[1objection]

It's sad, but its nice to know that he didn't just abandon it for no good reason.

[[M=A=M] Protocol]

Thanks for this post. I guess most of us needed some closure.

[LemonRush7777]

Thanks for this post. I guess I'd better skip on this game, then, seeing that it will forever remain unfinished.

[Expand Kong]

"Giving the finger to my former bosses is more important to me than my fanbase!"

-Swery

[Arale//Zero]

Originally posted by Lord Sauron:

"Giving the finger to my former bosses is more important to me than my fanbase!"

-Swery

Yes, his own health and happiness are more important than you getting to play a video game. Is this troubling?

[Expand Kong]

It’s not troubling so much as it is aggravating.

One, Swery’s health seems to be fine. He’s out and about working on his next project just fine.

Two, he’s gone nuclear on the fans on Twitter for asking him when and if Season 2 is going to come out after he had been silent on the situation.

Three, he’s said that in his eyes, the story is finished, which is a flat-out lie. Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger with the words “To be continued” at the bottom of the screen. We still have no clue who killed Little Peggy, we have no idea why her foster dad sounds like Satan and is talking to Forrest Keysen, we don’t know for sure who D is, we have no idea about pretty much anything.

Four, he is refusing to give out what the ending would have been, saying that it would be disappointing to just hear the ending through Twitter (when in reality getting no ending, through Twitter or otherwise, is worse).

Five, it seems to me at least like his pride is getting in the way. He’s saying that he doesn’t want to work with Access Games anymore because he isn’t a superior even though he was one of the most well-known people there (if not the most well-known person there), which sounds to me like the part in Revenge of the Sith where Anakin gets pissy because he wasn’t given the title of Jedi Master when he was on the Jedi Council.

Six, it seems like Swery feels that his own pride and feelings come before those of the fans, even though without the fans, he would be nobody. He should recognize how we feel instead of refusing to talk about reasonable solutions to the problem.

Again, a lot of this is my opinion, and opinions are like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ (in that everyone has one and most of them stink), but that’s my piece.

[gordonfreeman01]

Originally posted by Lord Sauron:

It’s not troubling so much as it is aggravating.

One, Swery’s health seems to be fine. He’s out and about working on his next project just fine.

Two, he’s gone nuclear on the fans on Twitter for asking him when and if Season 2 is going to come out after he had been silent on the situation.

Three, he’s said that in his eyes, the story is finished, which is a flat-out lie. Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger with the words “To be continued” at the bottom of the screen. We still have no clue who killed Little Peggy, we have no idea why her foster dad sounds like Satan and is talking to Forrest Keysen, we don’t know for sure who D is, we have no idea about pretty much anything.

Four, he is refusing to give out what the ending would have been, saying that it would be disappointing to just hear the ending through Twitter (when in reality getting no ending, through Twitter or otherwise, is worse).

Five, it seems to me at least like his pride is getting in the way. He’s saying that he doesn’t want to work with Access Games anymore because he isn’t a superior even though he was one of the most well-known people there (if not the most well-known person there), which sounds to me like the part in Revenge of the Sith where Anakin gets pissy because he wasn’t given the title of Jedi Master when he was on the Jedi Council.

Six, it seems like Swery feels that his own pride and feelings come before those of the fans, even though without the fans, he would be nobody. He should recognize how we feel instead of refusing to talk about reasonable solutions to the problem.

Again, a lot of this is my opinion, and opinions are like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ (in that everyone has one and most of them stink), but that’s my piece.

Clearly you do not seem to have a clear idea what recovering from major health issues can be like which is clouding your opinion on the situation. Based on the available evidence presented here, it seems likely that Swery was treated poorly by Access as he was not in a management position and hence (given Japanese work culture) very likely subjected to extreme hours and unreasonable demands contributing to his troubles.

As he was a founder and not a manager, it is also very likely that much of the royalties from his works went to people he probably considered friends who in fact cut him out (hence him not working with them anymore). As for this health, major recoveries can take years and even then it may either not be complete or if it is why waste it working with companies not interested in his well being?

Now, about not giving out the ending I agree that is kinda dumb but once again it is a question of culture and creators in general. Most creators in both Japanese and Western TV shows, games, etc tend to keep their ideas close to themselves even when there is no chance of a sequel (e.g. The Big O, Stargate Universe, etc), often because of personal issues with rightsholders or simply not wanting that grand finale in a less than optimal form. It is up to the fans to help create that venue where the creator would feel confident sharing this and if there is a serious financial incentive even better. In practice, a hard problem.

[Arale//Zero]

Originally posted by Lord Sauron:

Two, he’s gone nuclear on the fans on Twitter for asking him when and if Season 2 is going to come out after he had been silent on the situation.

Because """fans""" have frequently been rude to him over it and/or changed the topic to D4 when Swery was trying to talk about his new works. There's only so many times you can politely respond with "sorry, but this is out of my control" only for people to keep asking over and over without doing a little bit of research for themselves first.

Swery made it VERY clear that he has formed his own company now and that he does not have access to his old IPs. He was not 'silent' in any way. Yet, people kept asking him, "when can you make a sequel to the game you legally can't!?" over and over and over.

[Expand Kong]

Originally posted by Arale//Zero:

Originally posted by Lord Sauron:

Two, he’s gone nuclear on the fans on Twitter for asking him when and if Season 2 is going to come out after he had been silent on the situation.

Because """fans""" have frequently been rude to him over it and/or changed the topic to D4 when Swery was trying to talk about his new works. There's only so many times you can politely respond with "sorry, but this is out of my control" only for people to keep asking over and over without doing a little bit of research for themselves first.

Swery made it VERY clear that he has formed his own company now and that he does not have access to his old IPs. He was not 'silent' in any way. Yet, people kept asking him, "when can you make a sequel to the game you legally can't!?" over and over and over.

See, the way he could stop that is by just giving us the ending. The absolute easiest way to shut everyone up and get them to stop asking would be for him to say what was going to happen throughout the rest of the game.

[Arale//Zero]

I actually doubt that very much. If "fans" can't find the numerous times he's said that he can't make any more, I don't think they're going to look for anything else he said about it either before harassing him over it.

Never mind how terrible advice "just give the people who are harassing you what they want" is.

[Expand Kong]

Originally posted by Arale//Zero:

I actually doubt that very much. If "fans" can't find the numerous times he's said that he can't make any more, I don't think they're going to look for anything else he said about it either before harassing him over it.

Never mind how terrible advice "just give the people who are harassing you what they want" is.

Well, when "what they want" is an ending that was promised when you sold them a product, and that that's what like 90% of people who ask him about D4 are talking about, it doesn't seem that far-fetched or terrible advice to me. He would be delivering on a promise by telling people something, not giving them everything he owns.

[Sirlion]

Originally posted by Lord Sauron:

It’s not troubling so much as it is aggravating.

One, Swery’s health seems to be fine. He’s out and about working on his next project just fine.

Two, he’s gone nuclear on the fans on Twitter for asking him when and if Season 2 is going to come out after he had been silent on the situation.

Three, he’s said that in his eyes, the story is finished, which is a flat-out lie. Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger with the words “To be continued” at the bottom of the screen. We still have no clue who killed Little Peggy, we have no idea why her foster dad sounds like Satan and is talking to Forrest Keysen, we don’t know for sure who D is, we have no idea about pretty much anything.

Four, he is refusing to give out what the ending would have been, saying that it would be disappointing to just hear the ending through Twitter (when in reality getting no ending, through Twitter or otherwise, is worse).

Five, it seems to me at least like his pride is getting in the way. He’s saying that he doesn’t want to work with Access Games anymore because he isn’t a superior even though he was one of the most well-known people there (if not the most well-known person there), which sounds to me like the part in Revenge of the Sith where Anakin gets pissy because he wasn’t given the title of Jedi Master when he was on the Jedi Council.

Six, it seems like Swery feels that his own pride and feelings come before those of the fans, even though without the fans, he would be nobody. He should recognize how we feel instead of refusing to talk about reasonable solutions to the problem.

Again, a lot of this is my opinion, and opinions are like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ (in that everyone has one and most of them stink), but that’s my piece.

Completely agree with you. As I recall the alleged "health issues" was him finding Buddha or equivalent to his religion of choice and going hermit for a year. He didnt even want to develop games anymore. He's definitely a strange man with limited control over his own works. I even doubt he would\could finish his next works. That is why I will never support The Good Life, and it already looks a low effort, low budget game with very little going on.
What talent and commitment he had, I think he spent it all on Deadly Premonition and this first season of D4. Now he's walking a dusty path towards dusk.