Mega Man Creator Criticizes Japanese Studios for Lack of Creative Vision

Keiji Inafune is best known for his work on Capcom, and he’s always been rather outspoken compared to his game developer counterparts. The developer criticized Japanese game companies for their lack of creative vision in a feature interview with Gamasutra today.

Inafune says that most development houses are more interested in monetizing features and making a quick buck instead of adhering to any sort of creativity.

“A lot of companies, if you look at them today, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, Okay. How do we monetize? Where’s the money to be made? What are we giving the consumers that they want?’ They don’t really have a creative vision for what to build a game around,” he said.

Inafune says he hopes to avoid this sort of development mentality at his own studios Comcept and Intercept, where he plans to establish creative goals for his teams which they will then turn into a reality.

“We have this creative concept, and that’s what we’re going to build our IP around. We’re not going to focus it necessarily on the money… We’re not going to focus it necessarily on what exactly the people want. This is going to be our vision and what we’re going to stick to it.”

He attributes this sort of creative vision to leadership, which he says keeps developers on a single, undivided track instead of running off to do their own thing.

“All the people that work for me understand how to follow and how to iterate and execute on that concept. So, we’re just a unified team moving forward versus some people being political, some people pretending to be a producer and not really having a true skill to do it, and not really having a vision, or whatever. We are a unified single unit.”