Katsuhiro Harada says SNK and its new VS Studio can help revive Japan’s golden era in the game industry through game-focused leadership and new IP.
For many years, Harada was known as the face of the Tekken series. He joined Bandai Namco in 1994 and only left the studio at the end of last year. Now, he’s ready to begin a new era as the leader of SNK’s Tokyo-based VS Studio.
SNK Wants VS Studio to ‘Change the Face’ of Games
In an interview with VGC, Katsuhiro Harada discussed the culture of gaming companies in Japan and said he wants VS Studio to usher in a revival of the golden era of Japanese games. He said what sets SNK apart from other companies is that people within the organization love their games.
While not criticizing other companies, he noted that many leaders at other Japanese studios don’t care much for games and rarely play their own titles.
From my understanding, at the major game development companies in Japan, management people don’t play their in-house development games at all, not even prototypes, not even the finalized games. They take part in meetings that involve the P&L or the break-even point, but they don’t even play the game builds or provide feedback on those builds. I can guarantee you that none of the Japanese video game industry people in upper management play their games at all.
I’m not criticizing that it’s bad or that it’s good… I just wanted to also emphasize that this group, the SNK group, is an exception.
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