{"id":60710,"date":"2026-02-26T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=60710"},"modified":"2026-02-26T17:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:23:15","slug":"suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Suda51\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0know\u00a0what makes a \u201cSuda51\u00a0game\u201d a Suda51\u00a0game\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Grasshopper Manufacture\u2019s\u00a0latest action title\u00a0Romeo Is a Dead Man<\/strong>\u00a0released\u00a0to strong reception\u00a0on February 11. With a “Very Positive” rating on Steam, players are calling it another\u00a0classic “Suda51\u00a0game,”\u00a0placing it\u00a0alongside\u00a0previous\u00a0studio hits like No More Heroes and Killer7. But\u00a0what actually makes a “Suda game”?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ironically, the man himself doesn’t seem to have the answer. In a February 2026 interview with Famitsu<\/a>, the head of the studio, and director and producer behind Romeo Is a Dead Man, Goichi Suda (Suda51), admitted that he\u2019s just as much in the dark as everyone else about the perception surrounding his own games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly, I have no idea,\u201d\u00a0Suda\u00a0replied, laughing, when\u00a0asked about\u00a0what he thinks\u00a0defines a so-called Suda game. \u201cI think\u00a0it’s\u00a0precisely because our long-time veterans are involved in\u00a0development that\u00a0we’re\u00a0able to build\u00a0Suda-esque\u00a0games.\u201d\u00a0He also added that\u00a0among\u00a0his dev team\u00a0at\u00a0GhM, there are some who are act as \u201cSuda-game fundamentalists,\u201d\u00a0and are always there to\u00a0point out when something\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0have enough\u00a0Suda-ness in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

This collaborative approach\u00a0drove\u00a0key gameplay changes\u00a0when it comes to Romeo Is a Dead Man,\u00a0such as\u00a0the addition of gun combat at the programmers’ request,\u00a0which was a shift from\u00a0the studio\u2019s typical close-combat style\u00a0in\u00a0previous\u00a0games. These discussions\u00a0between\u00a0the\u00a0team members\u00a0also\u00a0resulted in the creation of\u00a0Rotters,\u00a0a more\u00a0original\u00a0and varied enemy type than the standard zombies\u00a0they’d\u00a0originally envisioned\u00a0for the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Grasshopper is now owned by NetEase Games, Suda says the partnership has not limited his\u00a0and his team\u2019s\u00a0creativity. \u201cThe reason they approached us was rooted in their desire to see us continuously release unique, original titles into the world.\u00a0We’ve\u00a0focused our efforts to make that happen.\u201d\u00a0NetEase\u2019s Art Design Center (ADC)\u00a0also\u00a0assisted\u00a0with technical tasks like building large-scale environments\u00a0and even entire backgrounds for one of the stages.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\u00a0Grasshopper\u00a0could possibly respond to fan requests\u00a0regarding\u00a0a sequel to Romeo Is a Dead Man\u00a0or\u00a0DLC,\u00a0\u00a0the studio\u00a0still\u00a0wants\u00a0to create another original title and, given the team\u2019s\u00a0current\u00a0growth, try developing a licensed game.\u00a0Noting that\u00a0\u201cWorking with pre-existing material is a completely\u00a0different experience\u00a0from creating an original title,\u201d\u00a0Suda\u00a0hopes to\u00a0take \u201canother step toward maturing the team by developing something within certain\u00a0constrains.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romeo Is a Dead Man is currently available for PS5, Xbox Series X\/S, and PC (Steam). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:\u00a0\u00a0Romeo is a Dead Man uses no generative AI whatsoever, Suda51 assures\u202f<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romeo Is a Dead Man\u202fdevs\u202fshow off practical effects\u202fexpertise, like melting dummy heads with\u202factual\u202fflamethrowers\u202f<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Goichi Suda recently told Famitsu he has “no idea” what it is that defines a “Suda51 game,” but that his dev team is an important part of the magic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":60766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-60710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nSuda51\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0know\u00a0what makes a \u201cSuda51\u00a0game\u201d a Suda51\u00a0game\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Goichi Suda recently told Famitsu he has "no idea" what it is that defines a "Suda51 game," but that his dev team is an important part of the magic.\" \/>\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\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Suda51\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0know\u00a0what makes a \u201cSuda51\u00a0game\u201d a Suda51\u00a0game\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Goichi Suda recently told Famitsu he has "no idea" what it is that defines a "Suda51 game," but that his dev team is an important part of the magic.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260226-60710-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1528\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"852\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mohamed Hassan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mohamed Hassan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Suda51\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0know\u00a0what makes a \u201cSuda51\u00a0game\u201d a Suda51\u00a0game\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","description":"Goichi Suda recently told Famitsu he has \"no idea\" what it is that defines a \"Suda51 game,\" but that his dev team is an important part of the magic.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Suda51\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0know\u00a0what makes a \u201cSuda51\u00a0game\u201d a Suda51\u00a0game\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"Goichi Suda recently told Famitsu he has \"no idea\" what it is that defines a \"Suda51 game,\" but that his dev team is an important part of the magic.","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2026-02-26T13:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1528,"height":852,"url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260226-60710-header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mohamed Hassan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mohamed Hassan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/"},"author":{"name":"Mohamed Hassan","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c6169108e73d8dc4c25de1cb8df9ae05"},"headline":"Suda51\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0know\u00a0what makes a \u201cSuda51\u00a0game\u201d a Suda51\u00a0game\u00a0","datePublished":"2026-02-26T13:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/"},"wordCount":478,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260226-60710-header.jpg","keywords":["News (Japan-related)"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/","name":"Suda51\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0know\u00a0what makes a \u201cSuda51\u00a0game\u201d a Suda51\u00a0game\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260226-60710-header.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-26T13:00:00+00:00","description":"Goichi Suda recently told Famitsu he has \"no idea\" what it is that defines a \"Suda51 game,\" but that his dev team is an important part of the magic.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260226-60710-header.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/20260226-60710-header.jpg","width":1528,"height":852,"caption":"Romeo Is a Dead Man"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/suda51-doesnt-know-what-makes-a-suda51-game-a-suda51-game\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0","item":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Suda51\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0know\u00a0what makes a \u201cSuda51\u00a0game\u201d a Suda51\u00a0game\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","name":"AUTOMATON WEST","description":"AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization","name":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","width":374,"height":190,"caption":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/AUTOMATON_ENG","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCabvYnvuUUbbGUrxkaFRgSA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c6169108e73d8dc4c25de1cb8df9ae05","name":"Mohamed Hassan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1720547168675-1-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1720547168675-1-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1720547168675-1-150x150.jpg","caption":"Mohamed Hassan"},"description":"Mohamed from Egypt has been covering Japanese and indie games for more than 8 years for local and international outlets. He is very interested in the Japanese language and culture, and is a long term fan of JRPGs, indie games and visual novels.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/mohamed-hassan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60710"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60770,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60710\/revisions\/60770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}