PlayStation icon Shuhei Yoshida estimates that he plays at least 250 games a year. There are certainly pros and cons to this. Yoshida said that the best thing about playing so many games is that he can witness the evolution of a large number of different genres during the development process. However, disadvantages also come: playing so many games in a year means that very few of them can actually play 3A masterpieces. "I don't play 3A games anymore because they are too time-consuming,"
Indie games vs AAA masterpieces
The last AAA game Yoshida played was "Ghost of Mount Yotei", which stemmed from his previous experience of playing "Ghost of Tsushima", but he failed to complete it. After that, because he liked "Nioh" 1 and 2 very much, he started playing "Nioh 3", but he couldn't spare the time.
Although Yoshida occasionally devotes a lot of time to AAA masterpieces, he firmly believes that independent games are superior because they have a stronger creative determination.
"In indie games, you can feel the developer's vision because they don't need layers of approval. I've worked at large companies like PlayStation, and even though we allowed developers and studios to propose, there were just too many people involved in the decision-making.
"It's hard to say who is the real creator of AAA games, maybe Hideo Kojima is an exception, or Hidetaka Miyazaki - when you play their games you can feel that it is their vision. But most AAA masterpieces are the product of a team's will, not an individual's vision."
Big budgets also mean games have to cater to popular tastes, often at the expense of personality.
"We make games, we polish them, but it ends up being a little samey. Publishers tend to be very conservative. When choosing a genre or theme for a game, the marketing team will say, 'This hasn't worked before, it's too small an audience.'"
Yoshida believes that indie game developers are simply trying to turn their visions into reality.
"They are passionate about a particular topic, and even if no one cares about it at the time, three years later, that may become the latest and most exciting trend." In this way, Yoshida believes that independent developers can lead the entire industry. "Triple A Studios are big fans of many of these game designers and draw inspiration from indie games. As such, indie games play a vital role in sustaining innovation across the industry."
During his tenure at PlayStation, Yoshida encountered many cases where creative potential was stifled by "stability". Among them, the rhythm games "Frequency" and "Amplitude" developed by Harmonix are what he particularly remembers. Harmonix later created the famous "Guitar Hero" series.
"I loved that game at the time. The core gameplay was formed, but the appearance of the game was a bit stiff and the sales were not good. But I felt that there was a lot of potential in it and wanted to continue to cooperate with Harmonix. Although "Frequency" did not sell well, the marketing department still allowed us to make "Amplitude", but after "Amplitude" failed again, I was prohibited from continuing on this path. And just a few projects later, Harmonix became a big success with "Guitar Hero"."
The past, present and future of gaming
Since joining Sony in 1986, Shuhei Yoshida has witnessed many major changes in the game industry. He believes that the most influential among them is the popularity of digital distribution, especially for independent developers. "Before that, there were only physical products, whether they were discs or cassettes, which usually required publishers with financial strength to publish them."
With the rise of online stores like Steam and PlayStation Network, any developer can become a publisher. "This democratization of game development and distribution is what I think has had the most profound impact on the video game industry."
When asked about physical media being phased out, he was optimistic.
"Of course, more and more people are buying digital copies, but there are still people who like to collect physical goods that come in beautiful packaging, and developers are excited about having their games in physical boxes.
I've heard that physical game production has been declining, but the number of games actually getting physical releases is increasing. There are more games, and there are more independent publishers that specialize in small-batch releases, so you're seeing many different kinds of collector's or special editions. "
Yoshida predicts that the overall number of game releases will continue to grow, thanks to the democratization of development and creation tools like Roblox or Fortnite that lower barriers to entry. "This means that the number of games being released will continue to increase, and in my opinion, as the volume increases, the top quality will continue to increase, which is a good thing."
However, this surge in numbers also creates problems for independent developers.
"Because there are so many games produced, it becomes more difficult to get attention for them." This is already a huge challenge for small projects, and it will become even more difficult in the future. As a result, Yoshida predicts that the role of independent publishers like Kepler or Fictions will become increasingly important.
Kepler has successfully launched several critically acclaimed independent masterpieces
Regarding how independent projects can stand out in the future, Yoshida pointed out that the community is the greatest asset.
"Indie game developers who have been successful have an easier time finding an audience because they already have a fan base, and the developer often has a direct connection with their fans. I think it's critical for any indie game developer to be able to think about their audience and have channels to communicate with them in order to create and grow a community and a fan base."
"The community will become advocates for your game and early testers of your (future) games. When your game is successful, they will feel like they are a part of the success, so they will support you more enthusiastically - having a strong sense of community support is very, very important."