In today’s gaming age, it’s arguably harder than ever to make something that is not only truly special but could become a franchise. Part of this is the unstable state of the gaming industry as a whole. The other reason is that games are becoming “more costly than ever,” and developers have to do all they can to make games “at a budget” or swing for the fences so much that gamers can’t help but love their titles. Then, there are series like Ace Attorney, which aren’t the most popular but do have a loyal fanbase, and this fanbase absolutely wants a new entry in the franchise sooner rather than later.
Yet, the true irony of this franchise comes from the fact that after its first game was released on the Game Boy Advance in Japan, Capcom was ready to label it a failure, but a single person kept the franchise rolling. Former Capcom game producer Taira Nakamura revealed this in a massive post on Twitter, which was translated by Automation Media, where he broke down what it takes to make a new IP and why certain gaming series were able to push forward:
“With development costs rising, creating a new IP is tougher than ever. Popular IPs usually grow gradually over time, as a series progresses. Pokémon and Monster Hunter didn’t become hits overnight. They’ve grown into what they are through multiple entries. That’s why you don’t often see a brand-new title suddenly selling like crazy, on the same level as these long-running franchises.”
Building off of that was Masakazu Sugimori, who also used to work for Capcom and helped create the OSTs for the games. He noted that the original Ace Attorney title was technically deemed a “failure” by Capcom because the game only “broke even” versus making a serious profit. So what happened? He cited that the series director, Shu Takumi, didn’t stop working on the games despite Capcom not being the biggest fan:
“However, Takumi-san didn’t give up. He kept developing the series through to the third game, and that’s when it started to take off. From there, it got a movie, a stage play, an anime… its popularity kept growing. Ace Attorney is truly an IP that Capcom nurtured.”
Indeed! Despite it being something that’s “not action-packed,” the franchise has won the hearts of many gamers and woven itself into the gaming culture in many respects. Thus, many hope to get “one more story” when the Nintendo Switch 2 arrives. Fans have waited long enough!
