Last year, the gaming landscape was pleasantly surprised by the emergence of Mintrocket and Nexon’s Dave the Diver, an enchanting and humorous adventure that seamlessly blends deep-sea exploration with the art of sushi-making. Garnering accolades from both critics and players, the game achieved an impressive 91% rating in our review. Chris Livingston remarked on the game’s addictive nature, stating, “I’m routinely up playing until 2 am; even after 30 hours, it’s still throwing fun and creative new systems at me, and every time I play, I’m delighted, surprised, and utterly charmed.”
Leadership and Vision
At the helm of this delightful creation is Jaeho Hwang, the game’s creator and director. Following the commercial success of Dave the Diver, Hwang was appointed as the CEO of Mintrocket by Nexon, which also spun off the studio into an independent division. This newfound independence, Hwang believes, will enable Mintrocket to concentrate more on game development—particularly the Dave the Diver intellectual property—rather than focusing on pitching ideas and business plans to its parent company.
In a conversation with VGC at Gamescom Asia, Hwang expressed his excitement about the potential for storytelling within the game. “I think that’s every director’s dream, since we have a relatable character. But actually, we didn’t go really deep into the personal stories in Dave the Diver, because we wanted to keep the game very casual,” he explained. He further revealed plans for a story DLC currently in development, alongside aspirations to create separate games that delve into the backstories of each character, exploring how they met and their lives before arriving at the Blue Hole.
Hwang humorously referred to this expansion as a “Dave cinematic universe,” highlighting the game’s rich ensemble cast that contributes to its diverse gameplay experience. He noted that exploring the broader world surrounding Dave could lead to a variety of genres in future titles.
Interestingly, Dave the Diver itself is already part of an extended universe. Hwang shared that one of the main characters, Cobra, originated from his previous project, Evil Factory. “He was an arms dealer who had his license revoked, and after that, he retired and enjoyed his life, and something happened, and he decided to come into the Blue Hole. So I really want to tell this kind of story in other games,” he said.
Despite the potential for expansion into publishing or other projects, Hwang emphasized that the size of the teams working on each initiative would remain relatively small, ideally consisting of 20 to 30 people.
Recently, Dave the Diver welcomed a Godzilla DLC, along with collaborations featuring other titles like Dredge and Balatro, even including a cameo from Geralt. While the DLCs released so far have leaned towards minigames and standalone experiences, the announcement of a story-focused DLC has been met with enthusiasm. Fans are also hopeful for spinoffs, with Hwang teasing the idea of a charming little game centered around finding cat food for Momo and Mochi, promising to capture the hearts—and wallets—of players everywhere.
