Japanese gaming website 4Gamer.net published last Friday an interview with Keiji Inafune, one of Capcom’s leading game developers – that was until he decided to jump ship. It has taken a couple of days but a helpful NeoGAF forumite has translated the interview for us English speaking folk and it appears that Inafune has some pretty interesting revelations about Japanese game development in general, and Capcom in particular.
Inafune has previously made it known that he feels that Japanese game development is in the doldrums. Earlier this year at the Tokyo Game Show he lamented: “I look around Tokyo Games Show, and everyone’s making awful games; Japan is at least five years behind.”
Inafune explained his reasons for leaving Capcom: “The reason why I’m quitting is basically because I think that the game industry itself must change the way it goes about making games. You might think I’m being hypocritical, but the really big wall that the Japanese game industry is hitting is the changing of its creators into salarymen.”
“When I was about 20, I was really passionate and entered the game industry, but now I’m in my mid-40s. It’s a matter of my age. My generation is, for better or worse, holding the game industry back,” said Inafune.
He goes on to explain that the Japanese culture of employing people for life is in effect creating spoilt and lazy employees, himself being no exception. “There are a lot of people who take their company’s commitment for granted and don’t work as hard as they should. This could be said of the entire industry, and of course Capcom is no exception,” said Inafune.
“I was in the position of being a naysayer, and yet was assured a paycheck the next month. No matter how much one is late or skips work, or even no matter how lousy a game is made, the next month’s paycheck was always guaranteed,” he continued.
“It’s like a communist state. Working as hard as you can is your own loss. Not working hard becomes more advantageous,” said Inafune. Explaining how this attitude could have survived for so long, Inafune points to a lack of competition. 20 years ago Japanese game developers were quite dominant, and as Inafune points out, “no matter what kind of game you made, you could sell 200 or 300 thousand copies. If you even made a decent game, it’d sell 500 thousand or a million copies.”
These days are apparently over however, and Inafune thinks that amidst increased competition, gamers have become accustomed to being served new games with constantly improving visuals and innovative gameplay. Anything less will see a game falling short in sales.
Inafune goes on to lament the lack of drive within the Japanese game development culture, suggesting that because people feel that no matter how well or how poorly a game does, they will still get paid at the end of the month and therefore they don’t have the necessary ambition to create the next hit game title. He described the attitude as “I’m just doing what I was told to do.”
Inafune discusses just why this complacency is so dangerous to development companies. In the modern gaming era, production costs soar and it is less feasible for a single hit game to support a number of other less successful projects. He suggests that in Japan, publishers hold a lot of power over their sub-contracted developers, forcing them to finish a game within budget and to a deadline and ultimately compromising the quality of the game.
Inafune seems to have an itch for Western game development culture: “Overseas there are more independent developers. For them, the goal is to make a hit, grow the company, sell it or do an IPO, and make lots of money. It’s the American Dream.”
“[In Japan,] if you succeed, you don’t get credit, and if you fail, it’s your fault. Nothing can be done about it. The game industry isn’t at a level where it can value creators and raise them up. It’s the same at Capcom,” said Inafune.
This also brings us neatly back around to the reason why Inafune felt he needed to leave Capcom – so he could succeed or fail on his own, without the safety net of Capcom corporate structure. “Up until now, for better or worse, I couldn’t go beyond being ‘Inafune from Capcom.’ That’s exactly why I want to prove that something can sell because it was made by Keiji Inafune.”
The full interview translation goes on at length, and if you found the above interesting, it is worth visiting the NeoGAF forum to read the rest. Inafune goes on to reveal that the managers at Capcom didn’t really bat an eyelid when he handed in his resignation. He discusses his previous role at Capcom, the reluctance of Japanese developer’s to follow the example set by Western counterparts, his desire to go into independent game development, the possibility of working with a Western game developer, and his desire for game creators to work more closely with the gaming press.
For a taste of one of Keiji Inafune’s classic Nintendo titles, try out this emulation of the classic Mega Man. Be warned, it is regarded as one of the most dastardly difficult games ever made.
Discuss Keiji Inafune’s departure from Capcom on the MyGaming forum.
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