Guilty Gear Strive has been a huge hit for Arc System Works following its launch earlier this year. The game has been praised by the fanbase for the last few months thanks to its story, characters, and music. It has gone on to become one of the highest selling games within the franchise, with its momentum continuing through the release of Guilty Gear Strive's DLC characters, along with a new character being teased for the Red Bull Kumite FGC tournament. Despite this game's success, it also might be the last involving the series' original director.
Daisuke Ishiwatari is one of the core pillars behind the Guilty Gear franchise. This includes designing the characters, writing the story, and singing many of the songs in the game's soundtrack. He was even the voice of the main character, Sol Badguy, for the first few entries in the series. He continued his work on the series afterwards, with the latest game being the conclusion of the storylines revolving around Sol Badguy and other characters in Guilty Gear Strive. However, according to Ishiwatari, this game might also be the end of his time developing the franchise.
In an interview with Famitsu, he was asked about any other games that would be a follow-up to Guilty Gear Strive. He says that while the series might continue, it's possible that he won't be a central figure in the development of future titles. He says that he would hope that sequels or other games can be headed up by younger developers who have fresh ideas.
Part of why he's been such a big part of the franchise is his self-admitted "one-man ego" where he acknowledges there's parts that couldn't be used without his permission. He further mentions the world of Guilty Gear being built with more ideas in his mind, but he doesn't have any plans to actualize them currently. Ishiwatari says that he does wish to change this, though, so that Guilty Gear can somehow continue without needing him to be at the center.
The very end of his response to these questions mentions that the franchise's output post-Strive could be in other formats, not necessarily needing to be another game. It's not out of the question, considering the series lore has been expanded through Drama CDs, manga, and other spin-offs. There's even the possibility that we can see a Guilty Gear anime series that Ishiwatari can work on if he wishes to bring those ideas he's got in mind to life. This is purely speculation, though, as the franchise's future remains unclear.
Guilty Gear Strive is available on PC, PS4, and PS5.