Suda 51 wants to create stronger emotion bond between players online in next-gen

News by Dave Cook Contributor

Published on Sept. 19, 2013

Killer is Dead creator Goichi Suda has explained that what he's most interested in going into the next generation is the ability to forge stronger emotional bonds between players in multiplayer.

Speaking with GameInformer at TGS, Suda was quizzed about what he's looking forward to in next-gen. He replied, "If I were to use a term it would probably be ‘beyond multiplayer’. Right now multiplayer is set to that we’re connecting together one person with another person, and I think with next-gen the opportunity is there to create something in addition to that. So you’re putting two people together and these people are just playing together, but what is the relationship between these people?

"There’s another layer to that you can add. To go beyond putting one person with another person. Not just the connection but having an actual… I want to say ecosystem. Placing two people together in a room is simple, but the type of relationship these people are going to have is completely different. I think having that relationship is an additional layer that next-gen is going to be able to provide."

He elaborated, and explained that he'd like to see people working together, and having gameplay affected based on their relationships. I have absolutely no idea what that game would look like, but then again Suda is known for coming up with mad untested ideas.

"Right now," he continued, "we are all connected, but with next-gen I think you are able to connect with pretty much anybody in the world, and maybe between just a handful of people there’s this group with a really emotional relationship, and you’re able create something so deep that it affects your gameplay as well. That’s something I think will happen with next-gen, and that could probably change the gameplay experience depending on who you play with.”

In closing he name-dropped GTA 5 as an example of how open worlds can progress going into next-gen, and he added that open world play is something he's really excited about.

What do you think? Grasshopper's first next-gen project, the PS4 romp Lily Bergamo is still relatively shrouded in secrecy. We'll update you if we learn more about it.