Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya has spoken about working with different publishers and the difference between Japanese and Western publishers.
Kamiya spoke to VGC in an in-depth interview about his new studio, Clovers, and was asked what his reaction was to all of the layoff and cancellation stories coming out of Western publishers at the moment. It was noted that these stories rarely come out of Japanese publishers. Kamiya noted his resume of working with a ton of publishers across the world, and said, “What it feels like when working with Japanese publishers is that the development culture feels closer to mind, and they tend to be more understanding toward creators.”
Kamiya elaborated, saying he views game development as “a kind of invention,” citing mechanics like Bayonetta’s Witch Time and The Wonderful 101 (my beloved) with Unite Morphs. “On the Japanese side, my impression is that they see you’re trying to make a new invention. They understand the struggle of trying to give birth to something new, and they watch over the process with patience.”
Kamiya adds that “For foreign companies, if you’re trying to invent something new, because the shape of it isn’t clear yet, there tends to be pressure.” He cited the overabundance of FPS games overtaking the market, saying that “I get the impression that they feel a sense of safety following an established format.”
Kamiya was then asked if he thinks his cancelled collaboration with Microsoft, Scalebound, would have gone differently under a Japanese publisher. Kamiya responded, “I do think it would’ve been different. I don’t mean that if it had been a Japanese publisher, the game would necessarily have been completed and released, but I imagine the process itself would have played out differently.” He says Japanese publishers are “more open to new challenges” but that “For me personally, overseas publishers seem to have a much stronger desire to see a finished product as quickly as possible. If it had been a Japanese publisher, I feel they might have given us more leeway.”
