Black★Rock Shooter FRAGMENT

Black★Rock Shooter FRAGMENT (ブラック★ロックシューター FRAGMENT, Burakku Rokku Shūtā FRAGMENT) is a mobile game developed by G2 Studios for iOS and Android. It was released in Japan on November 24, 2022. An international version is being planned for release in Spring 2023.

A manga series named EPISODE: STRIKERS has begun serialization on the game's official Twitter account in February, 2023.

Synopsis
In the 22nd century, humanity has established a global network that manages the world's public transport, factories, power plants, personal devices (mobile phones, PCs) etc. However, the network eventually gives birth (possibly by accident) to an A.I. entity called Innocent Cloud that proceeds to take over said network and then attack humanity with a virus, putting the world in jeopardy. In response, a team of warriors immune to the virus called Synthetics are developed to fight back against Innocent Cloud. The struggle proves to be a long-term stalemate however, at least partially due to humanity having lost all their advanced resources to Innocent Cloud and having no real way of contacting each other around the world. This also means that they struggle to trust the Synthetics that were sworn to protect them.

The player plays from the perspective of a (currently) unnamed protagonist who is tasked with coordinating the Synthetics into battle and embarking on a journey with them to stop Innocent Cloud once and for all. At the start, the player infiltrates a facility where Innocent Cloud is preparing its latest weapon. Upon infiltration however, the player discovers an amnesiac black-haired girl with a blue flame igniting from her eye...

Gameplay
Core gameplay is akin to tower defense game, where a team of player-controlled units fights off waves of incoming enemies. Each playable unit can move to new positions, making the game more similar to a real-time tactics game.

All playable units have their own attack range, which is shown in yellow when selected, and will automatically attack enemy units that enter their range. Their fighting capabilities can be enhanced by overlapping their attack range to create a "kill zone", which is shown in blue on the map. Each playable unit has their own skill, and it can be activated by tapping on the unit's portrait twice when fully charged. "Kill ability" is a trump card move that is similar to a unit skill, but instead of activating for individual units, kill ability is activated for all surviving units at the same time on command.

Maps may also include "gimmick areas" that can buff or debuff any units that are inside, such as increasing offense or decreasing defense.

Development
Black★Rock Shooter FRAGMENT was first announced on December 26, 2021 by the game's official Twitter account. The announcement established the game as being separate from Black★★Rock Shooter DAWN FALL, with its own story set in a different world.

On January 1, 2022, the official Twitter account shared an image of a New Year's message from Good Smile Company and G2 Studios. At the bottom of this image is a code in Caesar cipher; when each letter of this code is shifted forward by six letters, the code reads "the space-time gets mixed, divided and collapsed".

On February 8, 2022, the official Twitter account announced that it would begin sharing background and concept art for FRAGMENT starting on February 15. Reveals for these artworks occurred on a regular basis (three to four days for background art), then gradually changed to an irregular basis once they started revealing concept art.

A global release of the game was planned for early 2023, but this was later changed to Spring 2023.

Production Staff
A list of main production staff was released on March 22, 2022:
 * Design Direction: huke
 * Scenario / Script: Ichiro Sakaki, Okina Kamino
 * Teaser Visual: Rui Tomono
 * Logo Design: Hiroto Sugawara
 * Publisher: Good Smile Company
 * Developer: G2 Studios
 * Theme Song: TeddyLoid
 * Character Design: Ashima, Kanase Bench, kwgc, Kuronoi, Genyaky, Scottie, Zenmaibook, CHANxCO, Rui Tomono, Mephisto

Gallery

 * Full article: Black★Rock Shooter FRAGMENT/Gallery