Koei Tecmo has shared an interesting new detail about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. They have disclosed ahead of Nintendo that they have started a new AAA studio in the company to make the game.
The funny thing is, Koei Tecmo has taken to literally calling it AAA Studio. That may sound like putting the cart ahead of the horse, but the company may have ensured that the studio will live up to its own name. Leading the studio is longtime Team Ninja director and leader, Yosuke Hayashi, and Omega Force’s Ryota Matsushita. Matsushita directed Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, so we seem to be guaranteed it will have the same game feel to some degree.
Automaton has translated a recent Famitsu interview with Hayashi, who explained Koei Tecmo’s line of thinking. Studios like Team Ninja and Omega Force have established their identities as developers to make particular games with fans. That has allowed them to create followings, but there are individual developers in Koei Tecmo who wanted to spread their wings that weren’t tied to these studios and their brands.
To quote Hayashi:
Since AAA Studio doesn’t yet carry a particular color or brand identity, we can pursue the kind of interesting games we believe in. Then, if the players end up enjoying and embracing those games, the studio may naturally establish its own brand identity. That’s what we’re going for.
Hayashi also stresses Koei Tecmo won’t be forcing AAA Studio to be different, but they do have big plans for them, as the company has engaged in a hiring spree.
While the world seems to be AAA Studio’s oyster, this does sound like very similar moves to one of Koei Tecmo’s peers. It was almost nine years ago when Atlus revealed they had launched a new studio, called Studio Zero, comprised of many of the veterans who made the Persona games. While those veterans, including Katsura Hoshino, handed off the Persona franchise to a new generation of developers who worked under them, they wanted to make something new.
As you may already know, that something new turned out to be Metaphor: ReFantazio, a title that simultaneously showcased trademarks of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, but also had its own identity and gameplay design. We believe we can expect something like that from AAA Studio, between the people they had from Team Ninja, Omega Force, and perhaps people from their Atelier studio Gust, and the teams who make their strategy games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
These four already reflect a variety of experiences and specializations, so they could come up with something truly novel. And we might be getting that with as soon as Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.
