PCR Producer KMR Drops a Bombshell at 6th Anniversary: The Original Princess Connect Was About to Be Axed — He Saved It Out of Pure Passion

A game that nearly died in the cradle, saved solely by a producer's stubborn passion, now celebrating its 6th anniversary as a thriving mobile game — even by NGA drama forum standards, this story sounds too good to be true. Except this time, the source is the producer himself.

During the Princess Connect Re:Dive 6th anniversary livestream, producer KMR (Kimura Yuito) dropped a bombshell: the original Princess Connect was supposed to be axed by the company.

The original poster said the intel came from a QQ group sharing the livestream content, and its credibility is extremely high — because it came straight from KMR's mouth during the stream. According to KMR, the original Princess Connect was on the verge of being canceled, but because he personally had interest in the IP, he decided to take it over and keep going. That's how Princess Connect Re:Dive (PCR) came to be.

Wait — so 'Re:Dive' literally means 're-dive' as in starting over? From nearly axed to celebrating a 6th anniversary — that's a more hype storyline than the actual game's plot.

A commenter in the replies dug up even more brutal details: the original PC was a browser game (页游) that had virtually no presence on the internet. Screenshots showed its Twitter account had embarrassingly low follower counts and engagement numbers — the player base was minuscule.

The commenter marveled: from such a dead prequel, we got a sequel that not only exists but has been running for 6 years and shows no signs of stopping — potentially hitting the 10-year mark. 'This gossip has some real weight to it,' they added.

Another player shared a screenshot from the second day of the anniversary stream's closing, where KMR noted that if you count from the very beginning, the IP will hit its 10th anniversary next year.

So what kind of person is KMR, exactly, to be this 'reckless' at a major company? The replies had the answer. One commenter put it bluntly: 'KMR's status is so high he can do whatever he wants. PCR and Shadowverse (SV) are both passion projects he started because he felt like it. That's just how power works — with absolute swagger.'

Another player pointed out an even wilder example of KMR's influence: stuffing a full open-world mode and mahjong into a card game (Shadowverse) was entirely his doing. KMR's own words? 'My position in the company is quite high, and I felt like I could do this.'

One commenter gave a brilliant analysis of why KMR made the new Shadowverse: Beyond the Worlds (SZB). 'It's for love. SZB's revenue is definitely on the lower end among Cygames titles, but KMR shows up to every single SZB livestream and personally funds esports tournaments to fulfill his competitive gaming dream. If it were about money, he would've cut costs long before greenlighting a sequel.'

The community reaction was notably wholesome — a rarity for NGA's drama-hungry gacha section. One player wrote: 'After seeing the management disasters at certain domestic companies, KMR's story is genuinely a feel-good tale.' Another agreed: 'By gossip forum standards, this is the good kind of drama.'

Perhaps the most relatable comment came from someone who simply said: 'Because I wanted to do it — I'm so jealous of KMR.'

From a dying browser game on the chopping block to a mobile gacha celebrating its 6th anniversary, KMR has written a legendary chapter in gaming history through pure personal passion and producer clout. The comment section — usually a battlefield — was unanimously filled with admiration and envy. Some resent his decisions (like censoring SV card art for esports), some question his motives, but the overwhelming consensus is simple: this IP is lucky to have a producer who genuinely cares.