In an interview with Denfaminicogamer, Petit Depotto producer Toru Kawakatsu, who produced and directed 2019’s Gnosia, spoke about his experience working with an indie studio, and how important the balance between business smarts and creative impulses is in game development. As Kawakatsu explained, the harsh reality of the video game industry is that you can’t run away from the “business side” of development if you’re serious about wanting to sell your title to a wider audience.
“As I’ve gained experience, I’ve come to realize that idealistic beliefs like ‘If you make something good, it’ll grab people’s attention and sell well’ are almost never true. In reality, it’s difficult to make it without a certain level of financial understanding and business sense,” said Kawakatsu. “There are tasks that aren’t particularly creative that you just can’t escape from. In fact, they’re crucial. Dreams alone will only take you so far – you’ve got to face reality, follow a sound, reliable procedure and keep on researching, thinking, and moving at a rapid pace.”
“On the other hand, I think that sort of business-oriented thinking can become a kind of distraction from pure creativity.” Kawakatsu stressed that despite the essential value of business skills in a commercially driven field like game development, the Petit Depotto team are dedicated to developing works that remain true to themselves and their own creative intentions.
“I believe that creators should engage in dialogue with their own inner world before considering how it will be received by others. I think that a deeper creative philosophy can be cultivated by thoroughly engaging with a purely creative work,” Kawakatsu explained. From there, he believes that it’s his responsibility as a producer to enhance what he calls the “resolution” of a work as much as possible, developing it into a more polished, palatable form.
“To be frank, I believe that if a creator simply expresses their raw creative vision, it can result in something almost too highbrow, which makes it difficult for others to understand and connect with it,” said Kawakatsu. “Indie games usually take three or four years to develop when working on them full-time, so we naturally want them to sell and be successful. Otherwise, we won’t be able to keep creating them.”
Kawakatsu concluded by summarizing his joint role as both director and producer: “I need to understand the work better than anyone else, while also possessing the business acumen to adjust the intensity of the game’s content as necessary.”
Gnosia was originally released in Japan for the PS Vita near the end of its lifespan in 2019. The game is currently available in English on Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series, and on PC via Steam.
An anime adaptation of Gnosia, also produced by Kawakatsu, aired from October 2025 to March 2026, and is available for streaming in English on Crunchyroll.
Disclosure: The publisher of this game, PLAYISM, is part of Active Gaming Media, the owner of this website.
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