Takeuchi: "Nobody has a set answer" to financial success

Capcom producer Jun Takeuchi has described the current financial minefield of game development as a "fun period" and says "nobody has a set answer" for which domains companies should invest time and money in.

"It's a fun period, but if you look impartially at nothing but the financials, then it's also a rough time for developers," Takeuchi told Famitsu.

"That's because you just can't tell what you should be investing in -- current hardware, new hardware, mobile, social-gaming stuff? Nobody has a set answer for that yet."

Takeuchi, whose personal successes include Resident Evil 5 and the critically acclaimed if disappointingly low-performance Lost Planet series, thinks developers and publishers should stop trying to find a formula for success.

"Personally, though, I think it's a mistake to deliberately set out to find an answer in the first place," he said. You'll never establish a base for yourself if you keep trying to ride on previous successes."

Takeuchi also commented on Capcom's global strategy, and the criticism it has evoked from Japanese gamers and industry figures, dismissing the notion that Capcom had abandoned Japan as nonsense.

"It's not as if overseas developers have come up with a flawless new method to making games," he said.

"I think that Japanese studios can absolutely come up with a development process that can outdo theirs. In terms of average skill, Japan's developers aren't losing out at all to them."

Takeuchi recently announced two upcoming game reveals, both "big" and "surprising".

Thanks, 1UP.