Professor Layton Developer Level 5 Announces Showcase For Later This Week

DecaPolice, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, Inazuma Eleven, Level 5, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam developer Level 5 has announced a showcase titled “Level 5 Visions: Craftsmanship” that is set to air later this week.

After a few years of inactivity and the closure of multiple studios, Level 5 announced its return to flagship game development in 2023 with a slate of titles including Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, DecaPolice, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and more. Since then, the studio’s games have suffered several long-term delays and controversies, with many of the games from the original line-up still without release dates despite the company continuing to announce new projects.

Today, Level 5 has announced that its annual “Visions” showcase for the year is set to air on April 10 at 6am PT/8am ET/1pm BST. The theme for this year’s showcase is “Craftsmanship”, and it will feature updates for multiple titles currently in development.

Level 5 Needs to Regain Some Goodwill

Currently, Level 5 has three titles set to release in 2026 – Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, DecaPolice, and Inazuma Eleven RE. The seventh mainline Professor Layton title and new IP DecaPolice were initially announced in 2023, with DecaPolice slated to release later that year before suffering a shocking three-year delay. Layton was delayed from its initial 2025 release window late last year.

Among these games, Level 5 has also announced Holy Horror Mansion, a new entry in the Yo-Kai Watch series. This reveal was met with backlash as fans quickly noticed that much of the reveal trailer utilized AI-generated art, something CEO Akihiro Hino has been vocal about the studio incorporating into its development process.

It is worth noting that the titles that Level 5 has managed to release in recent years have been met with critical and commercial success, such as Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time and Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road.

Despite this, the studio has lost a lot of goodwill among fans with its poor communication. Here is hoping this new Visions showcase gives some solid release dates for long-anticipated titles like Professor Layton and DecaPolice, and fewer new project announcements until they are ready.