UPDATE
What do you think is the best game Suda51 has made? Let us know below!
ORIGINAL STORY
The term “maverick” isn’t often used in the context of the video game industry. Yes, there are those who “push the bounds” of gaming in certain ways, and that’s why we have the M rating via the ESRB. But even with those “mature titles,” you can see a focus on what they’re trying to be and not necessarily someone or something that is “trying to stir things up just because they can.” When it comes to Suda51, this man is a maverick through and through. He has made games that were pretty much “for him,” and fans enjoyed the madness along the way.
In a special interview with Game Developer, they chronicled his career while also having him give his thoughts on why he’s lasted this one. One of the first things he admits in the interview is that he doesn’t care about things like Metacritic results or whether his games sell. He’s focused on making a dope title, and that’s it:
“I try as much as possible not to care about [sales and Metacritic scores],” Suda said. “I’ve been in the industry for a while, and I’ve never really looked at the games that I make that way. It’s a goal of the studio to not try to make games that are going to sell well, not trying to make games that are going to get a high Metacritic score. Good sales and high scores are good things, obviously, but that’s not why we make games. We make the games that we make because we want to make them. We try to make things that are unique and things that we feel are going to be new and original.”
That might sound odd from a man who runs a company, but that kind of “freedom” is what he thrives on. If he tries to “conform” to what other people want, he’s not making HIS games.
While he has done some controversial things in the past via certain storylines, he’s never apologized for being who he is, and he takes inspiration from things like movies, with one helping lead to the creation of No More Heroes.
Suda51 is also working hard to ensure that the future of his company, Grasshopper Studio, is in good hands should he retire. He noted that there were a few that “showed promise,” and that’s high praise coming from him.
So perhaps we need more “mavericks” in the video game world; they tend to make some neat things.
