Keiji Inafune shocked many when he announced last week that he would be leaving publisher Capcom after an impeccable twenty three years with the company. The gaming masses have had little choice but to wonder what would force the iconic game maker to do such a thing. Until now that is. Inafune explains in vivid detail why he had to leave the powerful publisher:
Yeah, I want to work at Capcom. But, how should I say... Circumstances are such that I can't work there anymore. The reason why I'm quitting is basically because I think that the game industry itself must change the way it goes about making games. You might think I'm being hypocritical, but the really big wall that the Japanese game industry is hitting is the changing of its creators into salarymen. There are a lot of people who take their company's commitment for granted and don't work as hard as they should. No matter how much one is late or skips work, or even no matter how lousy a game is made, the next month's paycheck was always guaranteed. In short, it's like a communist state. Working as hard as you can is your own loss. Not working hard becomes more advantageous. But doesn't that get in the way of making games?
And here I thought that making video games was all fun and...stuff. According to Inafune-san, the gaming industry is much less about quality products and more about making a profit than it was twenty years ago. This is saddening news. Perhaps I should change my major?