Tag Archives: Yasuhide Kobayashi

Yasuhide Kobayashi, VP of Sony’s Japan Studio and head of Last Guardian’s development, told DICE Summit Asia today that Japanese games-makers must now appeal to western tastes or die.

“There are so many issues we have to solve, and the biggest challenge is that the market in Japan is shrinking – they key is gaining success in the US and Europe,” he said.

“At the time of the original PlayStation the Japanese market was one third of the global market, and production costs weren’t that high – so we were able to generate profit from that market alone.

“But now we’re in the era of the PlayStation 3, and the Japanese market is only one fifth of the global market – when it comes to production costs, those are swelling, so it means that unless we gain success in the overseas market our studio will go bankrupt. It’s a crisis we recognise,” he added.

Kobayashi admitted that Last Guardian was named as such to appeal to US and European gamers.

Lots more on GI.

Nice to have some solidity among the scuttlebutt. Following confirmation this morning that Michael Denny has been promoted to SVP, Worldwide Studios Europe, SCEE has confirmed that the decision to can London Studios games Eight Days and The Getaway came from the higher-ups.

“It was a global decision,” said a rep when asked if Denny personally made the move.

Denny reports into Phil Harrison’s replacement, Shuhei Yoshida.

Eight Days and The Getaway were dropped in early June, with SCEE putting the cancellations down to “redistribution of resources and budget”.

Following rumour that European Sony studios boss Michael Denny was to be promoted into a more senior development management role at SCEE earlier this month, the firm confirmed this morning that the exec is to be promoted to SVP, Worldwide Studios Europe.

“I’m looking forward to this new challenge, and in particular, the opportunity to further my work with the many talented development teams, both internally & externally, that make up WWS Europe… we have an unprecedented portfolio of AAA titles this year, such as MotorStorm:Pacific Rift, Singstar, Buzz Quiz TV, LittleBigPlanet & Killzone 2, which we’re looking forward to showcasing further, over the coming months,” said Denny.

In addition, Scott Rohde – senior director at Sony’s San Diego studio since 2003 – will be promoted to VP, Worldwide Studios America.

Yasuhide Kobayashi will continue to manage Japan Studio as SVP.

After the break.

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