CyberConnect 2 CEO, Hiroshi Matsuyama, recently spoke to Gamasutra about topics such as the size of the company, their future plans, and of course, the East vs. West divide.
While discussing communication with western developers — such as Epic, whose Unreal 3 engine is being used to develop Asura’s Wrath — Matsuyama reveals that CyberConnect 2 have a fair number of foreign employees, both Canadian and Chinese. The company continues to hire several foreigners and receives applications from non-Japanese nearly every week.
Despite this, Matsuyama says that, while CyberConnect 2 are in talks with western publishers, he doesn’t feel like the company could work well with any of them, citing Ubisoft, Activision, THQ and Electronic Arts as examples.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t interested in selling games to western fans, however. Matsuyama has high hopes for Solatorobo: Red the Hunter sales in the U.S. and Europe, and he’s also aware of the challenges Japanese games face in the west.
Drawing comparisons to how anime isn’t as well-received in the west as it used to be, Matsuyama says: “That’s because it’s not as mainstream as it used to be. They’re making it for a particular audience. I think that’s why. I watch a lot of anime but it’s for the techniques, not as entertainment. As a product, I think it’s going downhill.”
“The general audience won’t find those interesting,” he continues. “It’s impossible to figure out what the target audience is for Mawaru-Penguindrum. Same goes for Madoka Magica. It’s for a very core audience like us, who enjoy them. The video game industry has to make sure they don’t make the same mistake.”
