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※ Please be aware of the following interview includes details of the game’s storyline.
【1】“Voice Love on Air” is SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT's first BL romance game. What was the motivation behind developing this game? I'm curious if all the members of the production team are fans of BL works (Yaoi Fandom). Perhaps the project started from personal preferences?
VLOA Game Production Team：Thinking back on the motivation behind the game's development, it still feels quite remarkable. At that time, the company was encouraging employees to make bold proposals. When we heard about this policy, we thought, "Well, if the company says we can be bold, let's go for it!" So, a few colleagues with shared interests gathered to make a proposal.
As for those shared interests, yes, indeed, our members have a certain degree of fondness for BL content. Although some male members of the team won't admit it (laughs), they still offered excellent suggestions and adjustments at crucial moments. If that's not love, what is that? (heart)
Perhaps the choice of subject matter at the project's inception was based on preferences and interests, but it was also because of everyone's understanding of the genre that we were able to overcome many challenges during the development process.
In conclusion, it was all about LOVE!
【2】When it comes to SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT's dating sim games, the "Stardom" series comes to mind. As both are dating sim works, did the team reference any aspects of it when creating “Voice Love on Air”? What's the biggest difference between the two in terms of game systems?
VLOA Game Production Team：Yes, "Stardom" was our primary reference. Apart from the documents passed down from our senior colleagues, its system structure and event flexibility are still quite playable even by today's standards, with the scheduling system being a signature feature of the series.
The team mainly referenced the presentation of the scheduling system as the core system. After considering manpower and time costs, we simplified the operational design to allow players to enjoy the game more easily.
The biggest difference between "Voice Love on Air" and "Stardom" is probably that "Voice Love on Air" places more emphasis on the romance aspect, using the love stories of the characters to drive the management and development system cycle.
【3】What are the biggest challenges/concerns in creating BL-themed works? Even for experienced BL players, switching roles to become developers must present many difficulties!
VLOA Game Production Team：The biggest challenge lies in determining the appropriate level of explicitness. At the project's inception, some team members preferred more explicit content, while others favored a slow-burning pure love approach. This led to numerous discussions to establish the story's boundaries. In the end, our team decided: we want BOTH pure love and explicit content! (We're all adults here, why choose?)
Since the game revolves around recording radio dramas, our field research revealed that 18+ content dominates BL radio dramas. Therefore, we incorporated all the explicit storylines into the various radio dramas. The romance between the protagonist and the romance-able characters is developed as a slow-burning pure love, hoping to offer players a diverse experience through this combination.
Interestingly, the most difficult challenge for another team wasn't related to the game itself, but rather the joyful discussions among team members. During the development process, the team often engaged in intense discussions, sparking creativity and fantasies. Sometimes, these discussions would inadvertently become spicy, leading to uncontrollable laughter. Even though everyone was in the meeting room, the volume would leak outside. The team even received complaints because of this, and we could only apologize profusely. (We're truly sorry...)
But for a game to be fun, shouldn't the development process be enjoyable too?
【4】Why did you choose "voice acting" as the theme? Being able to freely pair up different voice actors for BL dramas in the game is also a part that players find super enjoyable! Was this concept planned from the beginning?
VLOA Game Production Team：The choice of voice acting as a theme came from the scriptwriter's personal experience.
The scriptwriter is a voice volunteer for the Taiwan Association for the Blind and has also participated in voice production supervision for multiple projects. With considerable experience and insights in the field of voice acting, the scriptwriter proposed the creative idea of "voice acting" as the theme. When team members heard the scriptwriter mention their own... ahem, experiences as a voice director guiding voice actors in the monitoring room, they all expressed agreement and felt that the process of adjusting voice actors' performances would be very interesting.
Moreover, most works in the market about voice acting are from the perspective of voice actor development. The team believed that standing in the monitoring room to adjust voice actors' performances, directing them towards suitable interpretations and perfect productions, could provide players with a completely different experience. Thus, the story of "voice director and voice actors" was decided.
So, the system in the game that allows players to freely pair up different voice actors for BL dramas was established from the very beginning of the proposal.
【5】Speaking of voice actors, all the voices in this work are performed by Japanese seiyū(voice actors). We'd like to know more details about the production process! For example, behind-the-scenes of casting, interesting stories from the recording sessions in Japan, the voice actors' reactions when encountering more spicy scripts, and so on.
VLOA Game Production Team：We actually learned a lot from collaborating with the Japanese casting company this time. Their pre-production work is truly rigorous and professional. Before recording, they carefully inquired about professional terminology, character relationships, and personality traits, effectively serving as a bridge between us and the voice actors, reducing communication misunderstandings.
During the casting process, because the story involves recording various radio dramas, the team's criteria for selecting voice actors weren't just based on whether their voice characteristics matched the characters, but also considered whether they could demonstrate acting skills for different radio drama roles. Much to our delight, every voice actor performed beyond our expectations, giving us very distinctive performances.
The voice actors were very professional. When encountering more spicy scenes, they didn't shy away at all, but instead gave even more expressive performances. It was actually us, the supervisors, who were left with racing hearts, filled with admiration for the voice actors. Also, since the radio dramas are composed of short skit segments, some terms were specifically written to avoid explicit content, which indeed caused difficulties for the voice actors in understanding the context of the script. Some voice actors even expressed surprise, saying: "Huh? Did they do it already?" "Is it over just like that?" "This line means they've already done 'that', right?"
As a result, "We're really sorry", "Yes", "They did", and "Perfect" became our most frequent responses.
The most interesting recording incident definitely has to be when we were recording the system voices. The team originally thought that topics without dialogue would trouble the voice actors... Unexpectedly, the voice actors actually loved these types of performances, even to the point of not wanting to stop! Every time a voice actor recorded these parts, the recording booth was filled with laughter, and the voice actors wrapped up their sessions with big smiles on their faces. (laughs)
【6】In terms of character design, the game features a Uke(bottom) protagonist and five different types of Seme(Top), including a younger-youthful character, a childhood friend, and a subtle-elegant type. How were these character choices decided? Did the team have intense discussions about this? Was there ever a consideration to make the protagonist a Seme and have him pursue 5 Uke?
VLOA Game Production Team：Regarding character design, the team did indeed discuss the desired character traits in the early stages, but also gave the writers a lot of room for adjustment. The overall story was first established with the setting for the protagonist, Aki, and the other characters were developed as extensions of Aki's story: what kind of people would Aki meet, and what kind of encounters and romances would this version of Aki have?
As for the Seme and Uke roles, can we really talk about that? Actually, from the beginning, the team decided that the protagonist Azuki would be the one on the bottom, while the others would all be on top...
Of course, if everyone wants to write their own fan works, whether you want to put them on Seme or Uke, sometimes top sometimes Uke, or switching back and forth, we won't object to any of it! (Hands pens to the creators)
【7】Why is the Yuki route arranged to be unlocked only in the second playthrough? Is there any special intention behind this?
VLOA Game Production Team：Making Yuki available for romance only in the second playthrough was actually the writer's insistence. The main reason is due to Aki's background setting; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Yuki is a secret Aki can't reveal. Given that Yuki has been in the position of Aki's good friend for so long, they both know each other's likes and dislikes clearly. After discovering their friendship has changed, would they express their relationship so straightforwardly? Wouldn't it be too convenient if such an implicit event could unfold in the first round? Moreover, the writer was concerned it might affect players' perception of Aki, worried it could impact the experience of pursuing other characters, and even more concerned that setting Yuki's romance conditions too difficult would affect the gameplay experience (for example: only being able to romance Yuki after completing all other character routes)...
So after multiple discussions within the team, considering the character settings, we hoped to present the tension between Aki and Yuki pulling at each other. Thus, we finally decided on this condition of the second playthrough.
【8】In terms of visuals for BL games (excluding radio dramas), "Voice Love on Air" is considered quite a tame work. Was the decision not to include R18 visual content made with consideration for Switch platform approval or other reasons? Will there be plans to develop more explicit works in the future?
VLOA Game Production Team：Of course, the Switch platform's approval process was part of the team's considerations, but more than that, the team wanted to convey the beliefs of "healing, warmth, and acceptance" to everyone through the story. As expressed in "Deep Sea," there's definitely someone in this world who hears your voice. We hope this story can bring happy smiles to the players.
Regarding the level of explicitness in future works, we probably won't write stories just for the sake of being explicit, but if the story requires it, we probably won't hold back... I guess. However, for future plans and the level of explicitness in our works, everything depends on the company's planning and announcements~
【9】In the demo of "The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication", we saw an Easter egg - poster of "Voice Love on Air" (laughs). Are there any hidden Easter eggs or special content in VLOA as well?
VLOA Game Production Team：There are hidden Easter eggs in VLOA! Although they're not related to "The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication"...
But we still thank " The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication " team for their strong support! (laughs)
【10】If there's another opportunity to create a BL game, what kind of theme would the team like to explore? Do you have any specific direction or inspiration in mind?
VLOA Game Production Team：We don't have any clear ideas yet. (cry)
【11】At GSE's recent offline event, we received enthusiastic anticipation from many Hong Kong BL fans for “Voice Love on Air”. In the end, we'd like to invite the production team to say a few words to our Hong Kong fans!
VLOA Game Production Team：After experiencing lots of challenges, “Voice Love on Air” is finally, finally going to be released on the Switch platform! The entire VLOA team thanks everyone for their support and recognition. Thank you for seeing this work, and thank you for hearing our voices.
The producer once said that her philosophy in making games is to bring happiness to people. This work may not be filled with erotic content, but it's certainly filled with sincerity and emotion.
We hope that ”Voice Love on Air” can bring you joy and laughter.
YAORA Official Website and Fanpage
GSE has officially launched a new brand for BL games, YAORA.We are committed to collaborating with various developers to contribute to the cultural localization of BL games in the future. We have established a brand-new social platform including Facebook and Instagram. Regular updates featuring the latest news, photos, story introduction, and other relevant information about BL games will be shared. Additionally, we hope to provide a platform for players to engage in discussions, allowing BL lovers to share their gaming experiences and thoughts.
「YAORA」Instagram：@yaora_bl
「YAORA」Facebook page：Yaora～bl遊戲情報站 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550070271286
Official flagship store landed on HKTVmall!
GSE's official flagship store has landed on the HKTVmall website and mobile application! The store offers a wide range of Nintendo Switch™ and PlayStation® physical games exclusively distributed by GSE, Xbox Series game consoles, various game accessories, and gaming peripherals. Customers can also pre-order upcoming new games on HKTVmall, enjoying the most comprehensive, convenient, and fast shopping experience. The HKTVmall flagship store will launch exclusive promotions from time to time, including discounts and surprise gifts. Please stay tuned to GSE's official Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates!
Product Information
Title：Voice Love On Air
Developer：SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT
Global Publisher：Game Source Entertainment
Genre： BL Dating Sim Game
Platform： Nintendo Switch™／Steam
Planned release date：
【STEAM】14th March 2024
【Nintendo Switch™】*2nd September 2024(Postponed. New release date will be announced later)
Suggested Retail Price：
【STEAM】HKD 187／NTD 498
【Nintendo Switch™】General Edition：HKD 238 / USD 29.99 (excluding tax)
Limited Edition：HKD 398 / USD 49.99 (excluding tax)
Rating： 15+
Subtitle：English / Simplified Chinese / Traditional Chinese / Japanese
©2024 SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT INC. All rights reserved. Licensed to and published by Game Source Entertainment.
