NEW GAME! Episode Rating Graph

Hifumi is now the character team leader and uses all of her courage to ask Aoba and Yun about their progress on their 3D models. Both Aoba and Yun are used to Kou being the leader, and end up lying about their deadlines. However, Hifumi doesn't seem to suspect anything from their deadlines, which makes Aoba panic and tell her the truth. Meanwhile, Yun knew she wouldn't make it in time, but ended up telling Hifumi she would, ends up being even later than she thought. This makes her stress, wondering if Hifumi would become depressed once she tells her...

Things are going well for Aoba and her job as the character designer, as her desk piles up with a ton of prints that need to be checked or redone. Seeing the giant pile of papers on her desk, Aoba can't help but smile, as it confirms the fact that she is actually doing her dream job. Yun and Hajime start talking about the key visuals for the game that'll appear in gaming magazines, and Kou tells Aoba that as the character designer, she'd be in charge of doing those as well. After realizing that, Aoba starts to get nervous, but...

Aoba’s dream of becoming a character designer comes true, though she has to touch up on the designs with Ko, and has to get everything finalized by Ko. Aoba sees that her designs that won at the character design competition had already been made into 3D by Hifumi, and she tells Hifumi to ask her if she has any questions about the designs. Ko warns Aoba to hurry up and keep working on the designs, but when she sees her senpais discussing something about 3D, she is unable to voice her own opinions. Aoba then starts wondering if it’s actually okay for her to be character designer...

At a promotional event for Peco, Ko tells Rin that she is going to France for a few years to develop a game at another company and build upon her experience, while Momiji hears from Hifumi about how Ko was picked over Aoba for the key visuals. While giving an interview on her work on the game, Ko brings Aoba up on stage to properly acknowledge her for her character designs.

Aoba finishes her project of modeling villagers and gets a new one. Her next project is to design and model a character. Seeing Aoba struggling with the design, Ko gives her helpful advice. At the team leader meeting, Ko and Rin find out that they are a little bit behind schedule. It looks like the character team will have to stay some nights and come in on the weekends to catch up.

Aoba Suzukaze sleeps in and may be late to work. Will she arrive late and get in trouble? Or will she prevail? However, that's not the only challenge in her way. She's also having difficulties with the 3D model. Can she get the approval from Ko?

Tsubame is tasked with programming a 'red light green light' style mini-game designed to Hajime's specifications. However, every time Tsubame thinks her job is done, other staff members bring up issues with the mini-game, leading Hajime to make further changes to the design document. These delays lead Hajime to feel guilty after Tsubame voices her concerns over how it might affect her evaluation. After hearing from Umiko about how the situation is tough on Hajime as well, Tsubame finally manages to complete a satisfactory revision of the mini-game.

As Aoba, Hajime, and Yun struggle with picking out a restaurant for the new hires' welcoming party, Shizuku has them practice being maids in a maid café for no real purpose. Once a restaurant is eventually picked and the party gets underway, Nene and Tsubame get to know each other while the character team try to get Momiji to loosen up around them. Later, Hifumi tries to help Momiji, who has been eating lunch by herself, open up more, encouraging her to spend more time with the rest of the team.