The main brain behind Guilty Gear, Daisuke Ishiwatari, has recently expressed some concern for the direction of AAA game development — and it's difficult to downplay said concerns when the man's such a creative icon.
Speaking to 4Gamer (as translated by Automaton), the visionary's offered something of a warning to staff who end up stuck on the same kinds of projects for years and years at a time.
"In current game development, localised staff involvement has become a common thing [...] It’s very dangerous to spend decades doing highly specialised work, only to realise later that you’re no longer capable of doing anything else," he explains.
Ishiwatari continues: "You’ll find yourself at a loss when the project you’re working on hits a rough patch, and even if you quit your job, your chances of finding another one will be slim."
His comments come across as a bit of a jab towards modern AAA development, where teams can, again, spend the best part of a decade working on just a single big budget release.
Indeed, he goes on to criticise the general lack of creativity in AAA gaming right now, since these mega projects are typically averse to risk because the monetary investment is so great: "People join game companies wanting to create their own signature work someday, but in today’s market, those opportunities are extremely rare."
Of course, Ishiwatari himself has been working on pretty much one franchise — Guilty Gear — his entire career, but these quotes stem from the recent launch of DAMON and BABY, which is a completely different kind of title from Arc System Works.
He explains that he and the team approached the action game from a much more fluid perspective — basically allowing developers to trust their instincts when creating the title's look and feel, instead of relying on strict revisions of ideas.
It sounds like quite a freeing experience, which Ishiwatari argues is hugely valuable in terms of broadening a team's perspective.
Interesting stuff, then, from a guy who's been delivering on a unique vision for decades. What do you make of Ishiwatari's viewpoint? Get ready to rock in the comments section below.