With Clap Hanz Golf getting a surprise reveal and release on Apple Arcade alongside Apple’s big update to the service, I had a chance to chat with Mr. Masashi Muramori (CEO/Producer and Director), Mr. Toshiyuki Kuwabara (Lead Programmer), Mr. Keisuke Futami (Lead Artist), and Mr. Shunsuke Takashima (Lead UI Artist) of Clap Hanz about Clap Hanz Golf () being the company’s first game outside PlayStation, mobile games, subscription services, working with Apple, and more. Having played the Hot Shots Golf (Everybody’s Golf) games on the original PlayStation and then playing the PS Vita and PS4 entries, it has been interesting to see how Clap Hanz has continued to try to make each entry stand out.

TouchArcade (TA: Having worked on the Everybody?s Golf / Hot Shot?s Golf series since the original PlayStation and released a new entry even on PlayStation VR, what made you want to release a mobile game" Mr. Masashi Muramori (MM): We got in touch with Apple at just the right time, and we felt something click.

Another aspect is that since Apple Arcade is a subscription service, we did not have to worry about lootbox (?gacha?) style microtransactions. We felt this would allow us to continue developing a game along the same lines as what we had been doing.
TA: Clap Hanz Golf is the first game from the studio to not release on PlayStation hardware and it is the first game with a new analog control system. What made you change the tried and tested three button...