Tecmo Koei Focusing on Western Markets
CEO of Tecmo Koei, Kenji Matsubara, has declared that his company will be focusing more on the exploding Western markets, and less on their home territory of Japan. This is what Matsubara had to say.
“The US and European markets are expanding very fast, so we have to focus on these markets. And our strategy is to expand our library. We have our current brands like Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive – they are very popular especially in the North American market. And we have Dynasty Warriors as well.
We have to focus on expanding our existing brands, and in addition we plan to create new IP targeting the western market. So we’re hiring developers not only within Japan but overseas too, like in Singapore and Toronto Canada.
We are pretty much ready to develop titles focusing on a western audience, so that’s our strategy.”
Matsubara then went on to talk about how targeting all consoles is the only way to ensure market saturation. And he is confused about Activision’s recent comments about dropping support for Playstation products.
“I’m not sure what Activision means in those comments, but Activision sees that the PS3 is a very important platform. In the PS2 days, Sony was dominant, and nothing else came close. Now, in the PS3 era, I understand that the 360 is bigger, but the PS3 isn’t small – it has a big share [of the market].
So from a publisher or developer’s view, focusing on a single platform is very risky. Instead we have to focus on providing every title for every platform. That’s a key standpoint for Tecmo Koei.”
Is Tecmo Koei correct in saying that developing console-exclusive games is too risky? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
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5 Responses to “Tecmo Koei Focusing on Western Markets”
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July 7th, 2009 at 1:22 PM
No.. i think he means making (every game) exclusive for (1 platform) is a risky because each console has a specific type of gamer. By them cutting out the Playstation Brand would limit Activison to 1 type of audience (the 360).. the Wii isn’t on the same level (graphically). Even if it has a large install the gamers are not the same so the product might not be received well. By creating games for multiple platforms you can see what sells. Hes answering by imagining that Sony was cut out of the picture (a what if?). A game might sell well on the PS3 than on the 360. it really depends on the audience. Ive noticed most 360 gamers like FPS than a RPG.
July 7th, 2009 at 1:57 PM
i agree with his comments on Activision, but i do not completely agree with his thoughts on multi-platform games. if you cater to the strengths of a particular console, you’ll likely reach a larger audience within that demographic. while multi-platform games have the potential of reaching a larger audience, it also limits potential by being forced to comply with the lowest common denominator. not to say that the game will suck. (look at COD4 and 5.) it just gives a game less of a chance to REALLY shine. if Killzone 2 was a multi-platform game (not that that would or could ever happen.) it would still be a damn good game, it just wouldn’t be nearly as great as it is. both exclusive and multi-platform have their pros and cons. but exclusives tend to do something epic.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:08 PM
I read that Japanese game sales are down 25%, thats a lot.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:33 PM
@sobrguy
exclusives on 1 platform might bring out the systems strength BUT your limited when your a 3rd party developer………which they are. (KT) and Activision.
Kill zone is a first party game owned by Sony. i think the statement holds more ground if its something like SF4 or DMC4. Naught dog gives away there trade secrets to 1rst party designers and programmers. 3rd parties don’t have that luxury. Its always going to be an investment. You have to take into account that hes answering based on Activision cutting Sony out of the picture which would leave you with the 360… 1 type of audience. Regardless of how much thought is put into exclusive and non exclusives you have to take into account they want to make money. It has been made aware that Japanese games dont sell well on the 360. have you noticed that the 360 exclusives are bland and not anything new? while Sony’s are constantly shining.
Fable 2 is a textbook example of what happens when ideas are larger than the media format used to express them. From the weak visuals, small world, and technical problems it’s difficult to decide exactly where the blame for Fable 2 lies, with the lazy developers at Lionhead, or with the underpowered, last-gen 360? The 360 is straight forward to program for so they should be awing us with graphics, sounds etc especially since its a 1rst party game. While the PS3 is not hard to program for (depending on the developer) it is for some and having an exclusive is a financial risk. Than theres a matter of hit or miss… did they please the audience? Rockstar can afford to risk making a Sony exclusive because they have money to fall back on from that DLC M$ bought from them. I think gamers want the best from there system’s so in there head multiplatform is bad. When there not funding none of these projects.
Sony has alot of exclusives but there from 1rst party developers.. while MS sits on multi platform games and a few exclusives..
July 7th, 2009 at 6:02 PM
I’ve got a western market they can FOCUS on, lol