Pragmata Devs Say Its New York-Like Stage Was Built to Feel AI-Generated

r/Games surfaced a Pragmata interview that is more revealing than a typical trailer recap. Automaton reported on 2026-03-25 that director Cho Yonghee and producer Naoto Oyama described the game's newly shown city as a fake New York generated by AI, not a literal reproduction of the real place.

The design goal was to create recognition first and unease second. According to Cho, familiar landmarks help players orient themselves quickly, but the team wanted enough distortion to make it obvious this city is artificial. That led to features such as inverted streets and taxis that appear cut off midway.

Oyama added that the uncanny effect was not produced by pressing an AI button. Human developers built the stage by hand to simulate the kinds of errors people associate with machine-generated imagery. Automaton says the team described taxis sinking into floors and buses growing from walls as examples of a world that mirrors reality while still feeling slightly wrong.

The difficult part was balance. Cho said the environment needed to look strange without misleading players into treating scenery as a puzzle clue or hidden gameplay mechanism. That is a subtle but important design constraint. A city that constantly screams for interpretation can ruin combat flow and spatial readability, especially in a game that wants tension rather than pure confusion.

The interview also clarified scope. Cho said Pragmata will include other locations on Earth rather than only dense urban stages, and even this New York-like city is really a cultural blend with influences such as Madrid or Seoul. That suggests Capcom is using recognizable geography as a starting point instead of chasing photorealistic fidelity.

Release timing is now concrete as well. Automaton says Pragmata launches on 2026-04-17 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam, with the Nintendo Switch 2 version following on 2026-04-24. The bigger takeaway is creative: Pragmata's city is trying to weaponize familiarity, making the player feel grounded and unsettled at the same time. If Capcom can preserve that effect across the full game, the setting may become more than just another sci-fi backdrop.