. Former
Sega Japan developer Jake Kazdal started the game's development company,
17-Bit, in 2009 to make games similar to that of the
16-bit era. They had previously released
Skulls of the Shogun for
Xbox 360 and
Windows phones in early 2013.
Galak-Z gameplay was inspired by what senior producer Raj Joshi called new wave'
roguelikes", especially
Spelunky and ''
Don't Starve. The 17-Bit team sought to emulate Don't Starve'' "survival mechanics", which encouraged players to plan ahead during their games. The team also liked the game's progression
tech trees, which provides the player more options as the game advances.
Spelunky handheld release and its "pick-up-and-play" variable game length inspired 17-Bit to release
Galak-Z on the
PlayStation Vita.
Galak-Z art style draws from
anime influences, including
Ichiro Itano's signature
Macross series "Itano Circus" missile fusillade.
Galak-Z was announced during Sony's pre-
E3 2013 press conference in June 2013. A playable version of
Galak-Z was on display at video game merchandiser Fangamer and video game collective Attract Mode's August 2013
PAX Prime combined event in Seattle. The game was planned for release on
PlayStation 4 in Q2/Q3 2014, followed by
Microsoft Windows and PlayStation Vita versions, successively - this was before the team decided to allow themselves more time for development, pushing the release window into 2015. All versions would contain the same content. On July 14, 2015, 17-Bit announced that the PlayStation 4 version would be released on August 4, 2015, with the PC version following a couple months later. The PlayStation Vita version was cancelled. == Release ==