In the first month of the new century, many things happened for ZAGE. Several teams successfully completed their assignments during this period—most notably Team Dynasty from Korea, Team Enigma from the USA, and Team IZAN from Japan.
Team Dynasty from Korea released an online dancing game called Audition, which is already live. As expected, this is a live-service title that requires an online connection and a ZAGE subscription to access its full features. Despite more and more games being added to the subscription library, ZAGE has not increased the subscription price at all. This decision has greatly delighted players, especially since the service is already considered extremely affordable—costing only around 3–4 dollars per month. Because of that, many players feel that the value they are getting continues to grow over time, making the subscription even more attractive as new content keeps being added.
For Team Enigma, they have successfully completed the development of a colorful platformer featuring a small purple dragon—Spyro. Meanwhile, Team IZAN has finished creating a horror title, Twilight Syndrome, a game that leans heavily into atmosphere, tension, and psychological unease rather than relying purely on action.
As for their next assignments, Zaboru has decided not to give Team Dynasty any new projects for now. Instead, he wants them to fully focus on maintaining and updating ZAGE's existing online titles. Even though the current lineup of online games is still relatively small, he understands how important stability, content updates, and player engagement are for long-term success.
Because of that, Team Dynasty will spend this period strengthening what already exists—improving systems, adding content, and ensuring the experience continues to grow rather than splitting their attention into new developments. As a result, Zaboru has chosen not to assign them any additional tasks this month.
For Team Enigma, however, Zaboru has already prepared a new task for them. This time, it is a unique project inspired by a game from his previous life—Medal of Honor 2. In ZAGE's version, this title will act as a prequel to Medal of Honor 1, expanding the story and providing deeper context to the events that players have already experienced.
But this will not be a simple recreation. Zaboru intends to refine and improve the gameplay significantly, taking what worked in the original concept and elevating it further with better mechanics, smoother controls, and a more immersive experience overall. He also wants the presentation—especially the visuals and atmosphere—to reach a higher standard, ensuring that the game feels impactful and memorable.
Because of the scope of these improvements, Zaboru has given Team Enigma a total of 14 months to complete the project. With this timeline, the game is expected to be ready by March 2002, giving the team enough room to polish the experience without rushing development.
For Team IZAN, Zaboru has also prepared an additional task for them. This time, their project will be Dino Crisis 2. After the major success of the first Dino Crisis—also created by Team IZAN—Zaboru wants them to continue building on that momentum while pushing the concept even further.
However, this sequel will not simply follow the same formula. In Zaboru's previous life, Dino Crisis 1 was heavily focused on survival horror—tight environments, limited resources, puzzle-solving, and constant tension where players were encouraged to avoid unnecessary combat. Dino Crisis 2, on the other hand, took a very different direction. It leaned more into action, with faster pacing, more open areas, and a stronger emphasis on combat. Players were rewarded for eliminating enemies, chaining kills, and managing encounters efficiently rather than just surviving them.
Zaboru remembers that shift clearly, and he intends to bring that evolution into ZAGE's version—while refining it even further. He wants to keep the intensity and atmosphere, but introduce smoother movement, better weapon feedback, and a more satisfying combat loop. The goal is to create a balance: a game that feels dynamic and action-driven, yet still carries the tension and danger that defines the series.
He also plans to expand the scale compared to the first title—larger environments, more varied encounters, and a stronger narrative flow that connects the events more tightly. In his vision, Dino Crisis 2 should not feel like a simple sequel, but like a clear evolution—something that shows growth in both design philosophy and execution.
Because of the scale of these improvements, Zaboru has given Team IZAN exactly 13 months to complete the project. With this schedule, Dino Crisis 2 is planned for release in February 2002, allowing the team enough time to polish and deliver a sequel that meets—and hopefully surpasses—the expectations set by its predecessor.
Aside from that, over the next month and throughout this year, Zaboru has decided to slightly slow down game production across all ZAGE teams. The reason is simple—ZEPS 4. He wants every team to eventually contribute to the launch lineup, and that requires preparation rather than rushing more ZEPS 3-scale projects.
This slowdown is intentional. Instead of pushing for quantity, Zaboru wants the teams to shift their focus toward learning and adapting to the next generation. ZEPS 4 is not ready yet, but the development mindset for it must begin now. He wants the teams to experiment, refine pipelines, and build familiarity with the tools and standards that will define the new platform.
ZEPS 4 titles will operate on a completely different scale compared to ZEPS 3—both in quality and in size. Production values, system complexity, asset demands, and overall scope will all increase significantly. Because of that, Zaboru is giving the teams time to adjust, even if it means slowing down output for this year and possibly the next.
In the long run, this transition is necessary. Rather than overwhelming the teams when ZEPS 4 officially arrives, Zaboru prefers to prepare them early—so when the time comes, they won't just keep up with the new standard… they'll define it.
Aside from that, there were numerous internal meetings reviewing ZAGE's overall performance throughout the year 2000. From a financial perspective, the company remained extremely healthy, with strong cash flow, steady growth, and a solid position across all its major divisions. Both software and hardware performed exceptionally well, with ZAGE's games and consoles continuing to sell at a high rate across multiple regions.
These discussions were not just about celebrating success, but also about analyzing what worked and what could be improved moving forward. Even with such strong results, Zaboru and the executive team remained focused on sustainability—ensuring that growth was not only fast, but also stable in the long term. Overall, the year 2000 was firmly recognized as another highly successful milestone for ZAGE, reinforcing its position at the top of the industry while setting the foundation for even greater ambitions in the years ahead.
The overall fanbase has also continued to grow steadily, with ZAGE's reach expanding across multiple regions. Everything points toward a positive trajectory for the company in the year 2000, not just in terms of revenue, but also in brand recognition, community engagement, and long-term influence within the gaming industry.
Looking ahead, there are already concrete plans to expand even further. ZAGE is preparing to establish its own distribution channels across many countries around the world, ensuring that its products can reach players more directly and efficiently. However, Zaboru understands that this is not something that can be achieved overnight.
This kind of expansion requires significant resources, careful planning, and a considerable amount of time to execute properly. Infrastructure, logistics, partnerships, and localization—all of these factors must be addressed before such a system can function effectively.
Despite the challenges, Zaboru sees this move as necessary. In regions where access to ZAGE products is limited or inconsistent, piracy often becomes the only option for players. He is fully aware of this reality, and rather than ignoring it, he intends to solve it at the root.
By expanding ZAGE's official reach across the world, he aims to make their games more accessible, reducing reliance on piracy while also strengthening their global presence. In the long run, this strategy is not just about growth—it is about control, accessibility, and sustaining the company's dominance in an evolving market.
Zaboru himself believes that the piracy problem largely exists due to the limited capability of certain regions to access legitimate products. In many places, it is not a matter of unwillingness to pay, but a lack of availability, distribution, and affordability that pushes players toward piracy as the only practical option. Because of this, ZAGE is determined to address the issue at its root—by improving access, strengthening regional support, and making its ecosystem more reachable worldwide, a lesson Zaboru carried over from his previous life and now intends to implement properly.
Aside from that, Zaboru has also decided to postpone the idea of creating another development team. At the moment, ZAGE already has sufficient manpower across its existing divisions, and expanding too quickly could create unnecessary management strain and inefficiency.
However, this does not mean the idea has been abandoned. Zaboru still sees long-term value in expanding the company's structure when the time is right. For now, his priority is to strengthen what already exists—ensuring that each team operates at its highest potential before introducing new variables into the system.
That said, gradual growth is still inevitable. Recruitment will continue in a controlled and strategic manner, allowing ZAGE to scale naturally while maintaining quality and consistency across all of its projects.
Meanwhile, it is already early February, and Audition Online is rapidly booming, clearly stealing the spotlight across the player base. The game's popularity continues to rise as more players join daily, drawn by its accessibility, social features, and engaging gameplay loop. What started as a promising online title has quickly turned into one of the most talked-about experiences within ZAGE's ecosystem, further reinforcing the strength of their live-service direction.
To be continue
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