Pragmata Devs Admit They Never Expected Real-World AI to Overtake Their Sci-Fi Story

Capcom’s upcoming sci-fi puzzle action game, Pragmata, has re-emerged with a fresh trailer during Tokyo Game Show 2025. The footage highlighted gameplay and confirmed that the studio is firmly targeting a 2026 release window for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. While a specific release date has yet to be shared, Capcom’s renewed showcase suggests confidence in the project’s current timeline. A playable demo was also made available to attendees at the show.

Pragmata first appeared several years ago with a cryptic concept trailer, sparking speculation around its futuristic themes and mysterious setting on the moon. Since then, development has been marked by long silences and delays. The latest presentation finally offered a stronger look at what players can expect, reaffirming Capcom’s commitment to its newest original IP.

The game features a central conflict driven by a rogue artificial intelligence based on the moon, with players stepping into the role of a spaceman accompanied by an android partner. The concept unintentionally mirrors the current surge of real-world conversations around artificial intelligence, though the development team stresses that this overlap was entirely coincidental.

“We really couldn't predict that AI would be this big from where we started from what you see now, but now that we have AI become this huge thing in the real world, we see like, 'Oh, maybe we should have added this or that from what you see in the AI right now,’” said game director Cho Yonghee. “So we are like, 'We should have thought of that.’” — Cho Yonghee

Producer Naoto Oyama added that the storyline and design for the AI antagonist were locked in early, long before artificial intelligence became such a debated topic outside of games.

“We have this sort of the idea of the AI in the game locked down very early in the development back when we released the concept trailer back a few years ago,” Oyama explained. “And so we had that as what you see in the game basically. And then we really couldn't predict that the AI would become this big right now.” — Naoto Oyama

Yonghee further acknowledged how quickly real-world AI advancements have accelerated, sometimes surpassing the speculative fiction originally envisioned for the game.

“So the real life AI's progression or development, it's been so fast that it's perhaps overtaken what do we have in the game right now. So what you see in the game might not look as amazing than what’d you compared to real life.” — Cho Yonghee

The developers joked about how some aspects of the game’s near-future setting may now feel closer to the present, with Oyama remarking that “the future has come closer.” Yonghee even suggested that by the time Pragmata’s in-game world arrives, the term “AI” itself might have fallen out of common use.

PRAGMATA - Shelter Overview/ Tokyo Game Show, September 2025

Despite these parallels, Capcom confirmed that real-world events had no effect on the final direction of the story. The team had already defined the antagonist and world design before AI became a mainstream issue. The Tokyo Game Show presentation was not only a chance to reaffirm the 2026 release window but also to reassure players that the project remains on track after its long development journey.

Pragmata remains one of Capcom’s most intriguing upcoming titles, standing apart from the publisher’s reliance on established franchises like Resident Evil and Monster Hunter. With a playable demo now in the hands of TGS attendees and a new trailer giving players a better sense of tone and gameplay, the long wait for Capcom’s bold new sci-fi experiment looks closer to an end. The official launch may still be over a year away, but for many, the confirmation of progress is the most important milestone yet.