Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda vows to to take the company “back to its roots” in AAA development.
Siliconera translated an interview with Japanese site, Nikkei Trendy, where Matsuda attributes Square Enix’s focus on reaching a global audience as hindering AAA development.
“If you focus too much on the global aspect, you might lose sight of who you’re actually making the game for,” he explained.
Speaking of IO Interactive’s Hitman: Absolution in particular, Matsuda explained how sales were actually negatively affected because the game was not focused only on appealing to “core” gamers.
“The development team for Hitman: Absolution really struggled in this regard,” he added.
“They implemented a vast amount of ‘elements for the mass’ instead of for the core fans, as a way to try getting as many new players possible. It was a strategy to gain mass appeal.
“However, what makes the Hitman series good is its appeal to core gamers, and many fans felt the lack of focus in that regard, which ended up making it struggle in sales.”
Matsuda pledges to concentrate more on the core audience in future when developing AAA games.
[via GamesIndustry]
