سكوير إينكس مو عارفين إيش يسوون ؟ ما حد بضيعكم غير السوق الأمريكيIt's no secret that the traditionally Japan-focused game developer Square Enix has recently been eyeing the huge North American game market. This is a new direction for a company that has only briefly flirted with Western-focused development in the past—most notably with Secret of Evermore and Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, both released on the Super Nintendo.
Recent releases like The Last Remnant—which was designed to appeal to both markets—and publishing deals with companies such as Gas Powered Games both go to show just how serious Square Enix is about its strategy. The most telling sign is the new development studio the company has opened up in Los Angeles. Ars spoke with Game Development Manager Fumi Shiraishi to get an idea of what kind of games we can expect from the LA studio and what the company expects from a California studio.
"Square Enix isn't necessarily shifting, it's more of a growth," he explained of the company's recent interest in the North American market. "The stuff [games created by Square Enix in Japan] does what it is supposed to do...but the Japanese market isn't growing."
"It's a different approach entirely," Shiraishi told Ars when asked how the studio's current project compares to past efforts like The Last Remnant, which was specifically designed with the intention of appealing to Western gamers. "We're not deliberately focusing on the North American audience," he said. "We're just trying to make a good game."
But where the LA team has the advantage when it comes to appealing to Western gamers is that it is also made up of Western developers. Cultural differences can make it difficult for a team in Tokyo to create an experience that a gamer in New York enjoys. "It's not a good idea to make a game for people you don't understand," Shiraishi said.
This has created something of a dilemma for the LA team: how do Western developers retain the elusive Square Enix feel?
"We're not trying to make a game with a Western looking main character and with blood and gore," Shiraishi said. Instead, his team is attempting to follow in the footsteps of previous Square Enix games by taking risks and trying to create an experience gamers haven't seen before. "The developers at Square Enix aren't afraid to try new ideas."
"There is no point in making another FPS," he explained. "Our task is different."
Though he wasn't able to reveal what platform—or platforms—the new game is being developed for, Shiraishi admitted that the choice is a big decision. "Square Enix as a whole fell behind in multi-platform development," he said. While the LA studio has the technology to create titles for a variety of different systems, ultimately it's a business decision.
Shiraishi couldn't reveal much about his team's upcoming project, although he did tell Ars that it would fall into a "Western niche" category. In the mean time, the studio is still adding to its roster of developers, and Shiraishi will be on hand at the Game Developers Conference later this month looking for fresh talent.
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