Under Night In-Birth Wiki
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This page features a collected timeline of known events during the development process of the UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH series.

Early Stages

  • Seiichi Yoshihara makes the initial project proposal using the character concepts from his high-school sketchbook. At this stage, the game is simply known as "Yoshihara Fighting (temp.)"
  • Quite a bit of time is taken whilst creating Hyde. Nobuya Narita seeks help from Toshimichi Mori, the creator of the BlazBlue series. He says that Hyde "should look more like a protagonist".
  • The entire setting is changed. Hyde is changed into a high-schooler.
  • Yoshihara starts to have doubts and revises many of the designs.
  • It is decided that there are too many male characters, Londrekia is scrapped in order to create Orie. His original playstyle is also scrapped and would later be applied to Chaos.

November 2009

  • About a year after BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger released in arcades. Narita approaches Arc System Works about how to produce a sprite-based fighting game in HD resolution. Mori tells them there really isn't any easy way to do it.

July 7th 2009, French Bread blog

Development1
  • MELTY BLOOD Actress Again: Current Code is in development and is expected to launch in arcades on July 29th.
  • Yoshihara's project is starting to take shape and they switch into full-time production.
  • During the these phases of development, the game was given the working title of "VOID RED" which was taken from the protagonist's special ability.
  • Narita teases with a picture the cast:

Fall 2009 ~ Winter 2010

  • Eventually they decide to scrap Zohar, Mercedes, Chemeti, and the male Licht Kreis member. Three more characters are conceptualized instead.
    • Thinking the game lacks a cool, older character. Yoshihara asks the team for suggestions, leading to the creation of a character who would eventually become Gordeau.
    • Seth is created from Hyde's old leftovers. Narita thinks the game doesn't need more dark characters, but is eventually convinced to keep the character.
    • Narita and Yoshihara think that the game needs a brighter, more cheerful character and once again seeks advice from the team. This leads to the creation of Yuzuriha.
  • Vatista's design is changed to be less provocative.
  • Hilda's dress changed into a mermaid dress.
  • Gordeau's design is refined. Yoshihara decides to add a scythe.

Summer 2010

  • Narita shows early plans of the GRD Gauge to Mori... And promptly gets scolded for making defense too prominent.

2011 (Official Reveal)

February 6th 2011, "HYDRA GP Winter Festival 2011"

  • UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH is officially announced and the first trailer is released. The game is planned to release in Winter 2011. Only four characters are shown off; Hyde, Linne, Waldstein and Carmine. The game is stated to be around thirty to forty percent complete.
  • Teaser website opened.

May 26th 2011, French Bread blog

  • Narita writes to the French Bread blog and teases a new character called "Harada-san (temp.)"

July 2011

  • Half a year after the trailer, Raito finally completes the first version of Hyde's theme.

September 30th 2011

  • Arcadia magazine announces Orie and Gordeau.
  • Official site renewal.

November 30th 2011

2012 (Release Approaches)

January 27th 2012

February 17th 2012, "AOU Amusement Expo 2012"

  • Game playable for the first time with Six characters. Check videos.

February 25th-26th 2012

  • The first public location test is held. This once again features six characters.

March 30th 2012

  • Arcadia magazine announces Hilda, the boss character.

June 9th-10th 2012

Development4
  • Second loketest. The HUD has changed and there are now eight characters.

July 27th-30th 2012

  • Third loketest. Ten characters, and characters are now fully voiced.
  • French Bread holds a "Guess the Voice Actors" competition.

August 5th 2012

  • The game is playable in at the GAME SUMMER FESTIVAL 2012 event.

August 30th 2012

Development5
  • The game is featured in Arcadia magazine.

September 7th 2012

  • Voice actors revealed.

September 14th 2012

  • Release trailer.

September 20th 2012

October 1st 2012

  • CPU opponent "Eltnum" is discovered in the game by players.

October 10th 2012

  • Comptiq magazine reveals Eltnum.

October 15th 2012

November 1st 2012

  • Hilda added as a playable character.

November 17th 2012

  • BARRACUDA tournament where Narita quickly shows name-only characters.
  • French Bread reveals a secret code which makes Eltnum playable.

December 19th 2012

December 25th 2012

  • Narita makes a tweet about his Christmas celebration. Teaser picture of the work-in-progress Chaos.

2013 (Exe:Late)

January 2013, Ustream broadcast

  • Supporting characters introduced. Same pictures from November.
  • They've been running tests and think that a PS3 port is the most plausible.

April 2013

  • The situation was pretty desperate with the PS3 port. The game supposedly moved at around 5~10 fps and many effects didn't work properly. These problems were eventually solved over time.

May 24th 2013

May 24th 2013, Ustream broadcast

Development7
  • Gameplay footage of Chaos is shown off.
  • They demonstrate the game moving on PS3 for the first time.
  • They mention their plans to add Nanase as a post-launch character. Already seen in Character Select.
  • Guard Thrust is added. It is currently unsure if a Burst mechanic will be implemented in the future.
  • They tell that adding Wagner is difficult because of the conflicting story details.
  • Narita estimates that the console version will release in early 2014 at best.

July 26th 2013

  • 1st Loketests for Exe:Late begin.

Summer 2013

  • French Bread and ArcSys decide to co-develop console version. Nanase is delayed.

August 26th 2013

  • Second loketest for Exe:Late.

September 2nd 2013

  • Sudden announcement. Exe:Late coming to the arcades on the Thursday of the same week.

September 4th 2013

September 5th 2013

  • Exe:Late launches in arcades.
  • 4Gamer interview. The developers say that they would love to have a Skullgirls character make a guest appearance.

September 18th 2013

  • An update adds Akatsuki as a suddenly appearing CPU opponent.

September 22 2013

  • Around the time when Tokyo Game Show 2013 ended, the work on Exe:Late's console version began.

October 5th 2013

  • Raito holds a "UNIEL Music stream" on NicoNicoDouga and plays Chaos and Akatsuki's themes.

October 22nd 2013

  • An arcade update adds Akatsuki as a playable character.

December 2013

  • French Bread finishes development and hands over the work to Arc System Works. They start implementing Network Functions for the console version around the end of the year.

2014 (Better Late than never)

April 22nd 2014

May 2nd 2014

  • Amazon.co.jp leaks the console key art for Exe:Late and reveals the existence of Byakuya and Tsukuyomi.

June 11th 2014

  • Byakuya is officially revealed in Famitsu magazine.

July 24th 2014

  • UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late releases for Playstation 3 in Japan.

August 24th 2014

  • Raito holds a "UNI Music Stream" on NicoNicoDouga and plays Hyde's unused BGM.

2015 (Back to the Arcades)

February 24th 2015

February 27th 2015

  • Exe:Late is released in the EU.

May 15th 2015

May 22nd 2015

  • 1st UNIst loketest
  • Loketest survey asks which character you want to be added next.

June 24th 2015

  • 2nd UNIst loketest

July 23rd 2015

  • Exe:Late[st] is officially released.
  • Phonon's voice actor, Saori Ōnishi, appears on the BlazBlue series webradio, Blue Radio.

September 2nd 2015

  • UNIst digital OST is released. In the booklet's comment section, Narita complains about the loketest survey, but says now they'll have to see what they can do about the character requests.

December 29th 2015

  • Narita makes an end-of-year comment for 4Gamer's annual developer interview. He says that they've been working to hopefully release a console version of "that game" sometime next year.

2016 (The Wait)

March 14th 2016

  • Producer Narita tweets that a new character for Exe:Late[st] is in works, but far from complete.

March 26th 2016

  • OVER THE WORLD tournament. Battle Planner Kamone Serizawa asks to players to wait, saying that they've been busy all this time writing story and drawing sprites.

June 6th 2016

  • Mika is revealed on Famitsu's website.

June 12th 2016

  • Exe:Late is released worldwide on Steam.

June 26th

  • Mika is officially released along with the version-up 3.10

December 27th 2016

  • Nobuya Narita makes an end-of-year comment for the 4Gamer annual developer interview. He says that development has been chaotic and is behind schedule. Teases that new info is coming "pretty soon".

2017 (5th Anniversary)

April 18th 2017

  • UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[st] is officially revealed to be coming to consoles on Famitsu's website. Enkidu to be added as a playable character. The game is to be released on PS3, PS4 and PSVita.

April 27th 2017

  • Amazon.co.jp lists the product page. Mentions "two new characters for the console version".

May 17th 2017

  • Wagner revealed as a new playable character in Dengeki Magazine as well as the key art for the console version of Exe:Late[st].

July 6th 2017

  • A balance patch is released in arcades a few weeks before the release of the console version.

July 16th 2017

  • BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle is revealed after the BlazBlue: Central Fiction grand finals at EVO 2017. The crossover fighting game includes UNI as one of the main represented franchises.

July 24th 2017

  • The console version of Exe:Late[st] is officially released in Japan.
    • With that, previously scrapped characters Azel, Londrekia and Zohar make their return and official debut.

September 14th 2017

  • Console characters Enkidu and Wagner are released in the arcades.

2018 (More waiting)

P-londrekia

January 17th 2018

  • Character designer Seiichi Yoshihara posts on Twitter that "the character [he's] currently designing is very complex and is taking [him] more time to develop than usual."

February 9th 2018

  • Exe:Late[st] is released overseas.
  • A game information site GameGrin leaks a picture which seems to be the character selection art for Londrekia Light.

July 15th 2018

August 20th 2018

  • Exe:Late[st] is released worldwide on Steam.

November 11th 2018

  • The French-Bread themed fighting game tournament, Climax of Night, is held for the first time in Atlanta, Georgia. After the Exe:Late[st] finals, a short video is played featuring Kamone Serizawa, Raito and RyoRca, in which they thank the western UNI community for their support and also announce that new content for Exe:Late[st] will be revealed as soon as possible.

December 31st 2018

  • Yoshihara posts on Twitter that even though there hasn't been any major news this year, development has been going smoothly.

2019 (The path is cl-r)

Unicl-r rating

February 27th 2019

  • Exe:Late[st] is revealed to be a main title at EVO 2019, the largest fighting game tournament in the world.

May 9th 2019

  • A new game titled UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r] is rated by the Taiwanese rating boards, leaking it before its official announcement. The ratings reveal it's planned to release for PS4, Switch and Steam.

June 3rd 2019

  • Exe:Late[cl-r] is rated by the Australian rating boards. The rating lists PQube, who published Exe:Late[st] in European territories, as the publisher for this game too.

August 3rd 2019'

  • UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH Exe:Late[cl-r] is officially revealed to the world after the Exe:Late[st] grand finals at EVO 2019 alongside Londrekia. The game is set to release sometime in early 2020. Further details about the release format will be announced later. Aksys Games promised to have demos of the game available at upcoming events and tournaments.
    • The Climax of Night Twitter page posts a tweet hinting at a demo of Exe:Late[cl-r] being available at the event.

August 7th 2019

November 16th 2019

  • The opening movie for Exe:Late[cl-r] is revealed at ArcREVO America.

November 23rd 2019

December 3rd 2019

2020 (Staying in for the Night.)

January 24th-27th 2020

2020valentine
  • EVO Japan is held. FRENCH-BREAD hold a poll asking players which character they want to see playable next. Uzuki is the winner, and is commemorated by being featured in the annual Valentine's Day illustration.

February 20th 2020

  • Exe:Late[cl-r] releases for consoles in Japan and America.

February 21st 2020

  • Exe:Late[cl-r] releases for consoles in Europe.

March 10th 2020

  • Exe:Late[cl-r] is announced for PC and will be releasing in a few weeks.

March 28th 2020

  • Exe:Late[cl-r] is released for PC as a free update, replacing Exe:Late[st] entirely.

December 31st 2020

  • Narita posts a tweet explaining how French Bread were planning on making an announcement for UNIclr at EVO 2020 prior to its cancellation. He also reveals that they are looking for writers to help develop a new Chronicle Mode for the game, and says to wait a little while longer until they reveal something later on next year.

2021 (Reopening)

February 6th 2021

  • Today marks ten years since the first public reveal of Under Night In-Birth.

March 22nd 2021

  • After nearly a year of radio silence, the arcade version of UNIclr finally goes into location testing.

April 15th 2021

  • UNIclr releases in arcades.

September 20th 2021

  • UNI celebrates its 9th anniversary. Narita and Raito announce on Twitter that a new installment of the series is in development.

2022 (10th anniversary)

January 25th 2022

  • Level 99 Games announces that their Exceed Fighting System card game will be receiving a UNI set as part of its sixth season titled Under Night In-Birth EXCEED.

September 20th 2022

  • UNI celebrates its 10th anniversary. However, nothing new is revealed about the new installment.

September 25th 2022

  • Toshimichi Mori announces his resignation from Arc System Works after 20 years of employment at the company.

2023 (Fruition)

May 10th 2023

August 4th 2023

  • After years of speculation, UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes] is finally revealed at EVO 2023 as a late celebration of UNI's 10th anniversary. It is set for an early 2024 release date. A demo is also held at EVO.

September 14th 2023

  • A new trailer for UNI2 is uploaded to social media detailing new character Kaguya.

September 21st 2023

  • UNI2 is a featured game as Tokyo Game Show 2023, and a new trailer is revealed, detailing multiple new features as well as revealing the game's worldwide release date of January 25th, 2023. Additionally, a Japan exclusive collector's edition is revealed, as well as a season pass containing three additional post-launch characters. A gameplay showcase of Kaguya is also held.

October 19th 2023

  • A new trailer for UNI2 is uploaded to social media detailing new character Tsurugi.

November 1st 2023

  • An open beta test for UNI2 is revealed at Paris Games Week 2023, which is planned to last from November 17th to November 20th. Additionally, a gameplay showcase of Tsurugi is held.

November 17th 2023

  • The open beta test for UNI2 starts. Additionally, digital preorders for the game go live, revealing that the game releases early for Digital Deluxe Edition owners on January 22nd, 2024.

November 20th 2023

  • The open beta test for UNI2 ends.

December 7th 2023

  • A new trailer for UNI2 is uploaded to social media detailing new character Kuon.

2024 (Long live the Night)

January 22nd 2024

  • UNI2 releases in early access for Deluxe Edition owners on PlayStations 4 and 5.

January 24th 2024

  • A special pre-release stream is held for UNI2. The stream is hosted by ArcNama host and UNI guest artist Riku Ozawa, with special guests including Kamone Serizawa, UNI brand ambassadors Arurandeisu and Oga Aragami of Hololive fame, professional Japanese fighting game players GO1 (Goichi) and Dogura, and Ryōhei Kimura, the voice actor of Hyde. During this stream, an official showcase of Kuon is held and Uzuki, Ogre, and Izumi are revealed as the upcoming characters for the game's Season Pass.

January 25th 2024

  • UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II [Sys:Celes] is officially released.

April 4th 2024

July 6th 2024

  • An ArcLive panel is held at Anime Expo 2024, and a new trailer for UNI2 is revealed, detailing Uzuki. They also announce that she will be playable to the public for the first time at EVO 2024.

July 19th 2024

  • Day 1 of EVO 2024. A stream is held on Arc System Works' official Twitch channel featuring Kamone showcasing Uzuki while playing matches with spectators.

July 20th 2024

  • Day 2 of EVO 2024. Kamone announces on stage before the top 6 for UNI2 that Uzuki will be releasing early on July 25th.

July 24th 2024

  • Due to what appears to be an error of some sort, the update containing Uzuki is released earlier than expected for console players.

July 25th 2024

  • Uzuki is officially released on all platforms.

September 29th 2024

  • A UNI2 panel and exhibition is held on the final day of Tokyo Game Show 2024, featuring Riku Ozawa, Kamone, and EVO 2024 winners Kyo (Japan winner) and Senaru (Vegas winner). At the end of the panel, Kamone showcases some teaser screenshots of Ogre.
  • Raito announces on Twitter that Ogre's theme has been finalized.

November 2nd 2024

  • Stormy Night, a two day UNI tournament is held. After the grand finals, Kamone announces that UNI2 will be released in arcades. More details are to be announced at a later date. A feeback survey is also posted to Twitter, allowing players worldwide to give their feedback on the game, as well as request which NPCs they want to see added as future playable characters.

2025 (Open the gate)

January 14th 2025

  • UNI2 is announced as a main title for EVO 2025. In the announcement stream, Kamone reveals that more info regarding Ogre is planned to be announced very soon.

February 15th, 2025

  • A new trailer for UNI2 is revealed at the first ever EVO Awards, detailing Ogre. A release date is set for February 20th.

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