Former Capcom veteran Hideaki Itsuno’s new game studio LightSpeed Japan is working on an AAA, singleplayer-focused action game targeting the global market. With the new title, Itsuno aims to bring together the best of everything he’s worked on so far, specifically elements of Devil May Cry, Dragon’s Dogma and the Rival Schools series. However, rather than an indulgent passion project, the work-in-progress game appears to be a reconciliation of Itsuno’s personal tastes as a creator and game elements that work in a commercial sense.
Talking to Famitsu following the opening of LightSpeed Japan’s new offices in Osaka, Itsuno confirmed that the new project he’s directing was pitched by him personally and accepted without any major revisions by the company. However, when asked whether this means he’s making the game he’s always wanted to make, Itsuno says that’s not really the case either.
“Strictly speaking, no. I think the kind of games I’d most like to make probably wouldn’t sell. They’d be too out there to be judged as commercially viable. I am well aware of this myself, so instead, I extract specific elements from those game ideas and combine them with elements I know from experience will work. That’s how I’m building our new title.”
Moreover, Itsuno adds that “Whenever I’m asked to propose new projects, I usually submit five or six ideas and mix in about two that I really want to do, but they never get chosen.” Based on his experience so far, he considers it unlikely that he’ll attempt to develop these niche ideas into products later in his career.
In 2025, hearing the word “passion project” inevitably brings to mind Too Kyo Games, who took a colossal gamble to release The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy exactly the way they envisioned it. Although their struggle led them to success, facing debt and near bankruptcy during development is nothing to laugh at, and with market conditions as harsh as they are nowadays, Itsuno’s approach of packaging his bolder ideas into more marketable frameworks seems like a wise one. LightSpeed Japan’s upcoming game is currently in its early prototyping stages. The release date and compatible platforms are TBD.
Related article: The high quality of Hideaki Itsuno’s Devil May Cry 4 pushed Bayonetta to greater heights, according to Hideki Kamiya
