{"id":45923,"date":"2025-03-21T16:57:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T07:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=45923"},"modified":"2025-03-21T17:14:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T08:14:28","slug":"former-devil-may-cry-and-dragons-dogma-producer-on-why-its-vital-to-choose-your-target-audience-whether-japanese-or-overseas-and-stick-to-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/game-development\/former-devil-may-cry-and-dragons-dogma-producer-on-why-its-vital-to-choose-your-target-audience-whether-japanese-or-overseas-and-stick-to-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Devil May Cry and Dragon\u2019s Dogma producer on why it\u2019s vital to choose your target audience, whether Japanese or overseas, and stick to it\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a recent interview with Famitsu<\/a>, Capcom veteran and CEO of GPTRACK50 Hiroyuki Kobayashi talked about his decision to market his studio\u2019s unannounced new game to the overseas market, sharing insights into how his extensive experience as a game producer has shaped his views on how to successfully market a game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to becoming head of NetEaseGames\u2019s GPTRACK50, Kobayashi spent 27 years at Capcom. He debuted as a game producer with Dino Crisis 2, and went on to be producer for the Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Sengoku Basara and Dragon\u2019s Dogma series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dragon's<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When asked about how the role of game producer has changed with the times, Kobayashi comments, \u201cIn the past, we used to start work on a game with just a vague idea of \u2018this seems interesting.\u2019 If we had experienced developers working on it, we\u2019d be able to make it a success somehow, but now, it\u2019s no longer possible to sell a game only because it\u2019s fun.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on how things have changed, he notes, \u201cYou have to do proper marketing in advance and analyze the target audience you\u2019re trying to appeal to. We are now in an age where you will not be accepted if you don\u2019t clearly define your target.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kobayashi mentions that the unannounced game GPTRACK50 is currently working on<\/a> happens to be targeted towards the overseas game market. As such, he does not expect it to sell very well in Japan. Kobayashi accepts this and does not plan to make midway changes to the game to try and appeal to the Japanese market in a half-hearted way. \u201cIf we were to incorporate such changes, the game\u2019s development would steer into the wrong direction.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Devil<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Narrowing down the target in this way, Kobayashi comments, \u201cis the job of game producers.\u201d Although it depends on the person, Kobayashi says that he is the type of producer that lets the game director \u201cdo whatever they want\u201d for the most part, but that he makes sure to step in when a decision seems like it will resonate badly with the chosen target audience. This includes practical points such as ensuring the game won\u2019t include depictions that could earn it a higher age-rating than intended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for GPTRACK50\u2019s upcoming game, Kobayashi says that the gameplay likely doesn\u2019t\u00a0match Japanese tastes. \u201cOf course, there will surely be people thrilled by the game and willing to play it, but in a world where games are evaluated by how much they sold, it would be risky to start altering it so that it matches Japanese tastes.\u201d He stresses that he is not attempting to neglect the Japanese market, but simply making sure the given project stays on course.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Veteran Capcom producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi talks about the role of a game producer and how it has changed with the years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":45925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-45923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Devil May Cry and Dragon\u2019s Dogma producer on why it\u2019s vital to choose your target audience, whether Japanese or overseas, and stick to it\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Veteran Capcom producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi talks about the role of a game producer and how it has changed with the years.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/game-development\/former-devil-may-cry-and-dragons-dogma-producer-on-why-its-vital-to-choose-your-target-audience-whether-japanese-or-overseas-and-stick-to-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Devil May Cry and Dragon\u2019s Dogma producer on why it\u2019s vital to choose your target audience, whether Japanese or overseas, and stick to it\u00a0 - 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