"Gradius V" was officially announced on January 16, 2003 as a joint venture between Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and Treasure - a development studio founded by former employees of Konami. In the 2006 French documentary film "Japon: Histoire Du Shooting Game", produced by CanalSat's GameOne channel, senior producer Osamu Kasai explained that because of limited resources the development of the game had to be outsourced. A potential collaborator would have to be experienced with modern shoot 'em ups and have a shared design philosophy. Kasai concluded that "Treasure was the best choice" for the project.