GungHo: Japanese devs must go 'back to basics'

Japanese developers must go "back to basics" if they are to return to prominence, according to GungHo Online Entertainment president Kazuki Morishita. Speaking with Gamasutra, Morishita said Japanese studios need to focus on making "good games."

"Let's say that Japanese games are in their darkest times right now. There's no way to go but up, if that's the case," Morishita said. "In terms of making games, I think Japanese developers need to go back to basics about why they make games in the first place, which is to make good games."

GungHo Online Entertainment recently acquired No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned developer Grasshopper Manufacture. The studio is currently working on Killer Is Dead, a multiplatform action game helmed by studio boss Goichi "Suda51" Suda.

Morishita is not the first Japanese developer to speak out on the current state of the industry in the region. Mega Man and Dead Rising designer Keiji Inafune said last month that Japanese studios are beginning to become aware of the "problem," but still have a ways to go.