The n00b Avenger
Member
Just decided to post a little bit of it because I thought it was interesting.
Source: http://www.4gamer.net/games/353/G035361/20170217067/
Excuse any typos I didn't feel like proofreading.
There's some more interview stuff in there as well. Of note is the statement that they have a yet unannounced 25th anniversary project in the works
Source: http://www.4gamer.net/games/353/G035361/20170217067/
4Gamer:
Thank you for taking the time out for us. First, I'd like to ask why what circumstances led a company like Nippon Ichi Software, which is mostly known for making games aimed at a Japanese audience, to try their hands at Steam.
Shinkawa:
We want to make NIS titles available to everyone in the world, not just Japan. That said, we don't try to make our games specifically with the western audience in mind. I don't believe Western gamers would even want us to purposely design our games that way. We're just Japanese developers making games that we think other gamers would enjoy. If we can capture the attention of an overseas audience while continuing that, that would be optimal.
4Gamer:
So you plan to retain your identity as a "Japanese Game Developer" then.
Shinkawa:
As for why a company like that decided to move to Steam, there are 2 big reasons. The first is simple enough. It's a platform with a lot users and we determined there could be market potential there.
The 2nd is about game availability. When your game is on specific video game hardware, there are of course restrictions involved. You may even live in a region where they don't even sell that hardware, and that's a shame. By releasing on a platform like Steam, we want to give people who have never touched a NIS game a chance to play it and if possible, even become a fan.
4Gamer:
It's been a year since you've released Disgaea PC and you've continued to release more games since then. How exactly is business on Steam going on that moment?
Shinkawa:
Disgaea PC has been doing alright. Of course considering it's a game that's been released several times in the past already, it didn't exactly break the bank(smile).
As for the other games, they've been selling decently considering they're just ports of games already released for other consoles. To tell the truth though, we were hoping for a little better. Still, we're playing the long game with Steam. As long as we keep at it, there's still more chances to be had.
4Gamer:
More chances?
Shinkawa:
We aim to create more fans outside of Japan. When releasing on Steam, the simplest thing to do is to just license your games to a publisher that's already established on Steam and call it a day. However, we felt that if you really want to expand your fanbase there, you have to be more involved. Thus, we teamed up with our subsidiary in NISA and developed the game ourselves in an attempt to build a community there. We want to listen to what out fans have to say while we continue to expand our library.
4Gamer：
Do you think a large part of your Steam fanbase are people who are already fans of Disgaea?
Shinkawa:
There are of course, but I get the impression that there are also people who stick mainly to PC games or from other circumstances that are playing the game for the very first time.
4Gamer：
And thus a new fan is born.
Shinkawa:
Indeed. I firmly believe that moving to Steam was a necessary step for the company.
4Gamer：
Disgaea 2 PC was recently released on 1/31. Are there any plans to release the Disgaea games after that one as well?
Shinkawa:
We do want to make Disgaea 3 onwards playable as well, yes.
4Gamer：
Looking forward to it. I'm sure people on Steam who have never played them are as well.
Speaking of which. I noticed NIS isn't guilty of Omakuni(making games unavailable for purchase in Japan on PC despite being available in other countries) on Steam.
Shinkawa:
Oh yeah, no way we're doing that(smile). It was actually the people from NISA that spoke up most firmly about this. We have a lot of fans of Japanese games working there so they can probably relate to how their fellow fans feel about that. The idea of going out of your way to restrict your games from being sold to a specific country is out of the question for us.
4Gamer：
As a PC gamer in Japan, I'm happy to hear that.
Shinkawa:
I'm happy to hear that you're happy to hear that(laugh)
Basically our current platform comes down to 3 basic tenets. 1. Make our games in Japan by Japanese developers. 2: Sell them around the world. 3. Try not to restrict the platform it's on as much as possible.
4Gamer：
As I recall, a sizable number of your sales even come from overseas, correct?
Shinkawa:
Certain titles even sell better overseas than they do in Japan.
4Gamer：
NIS's characters tend to have a very distinct Japanese cutesy style. Not only that, but they're filled with jokes that I have a difficult time imagining being understood by someone who's not Japanese. The fact that such a game could sell better overseas sounds pretty amazing to me.
Shinkawa:
There are 3 reasons as to why I think our games succeed there. One is simply that there's a niche out there that enjoys the "Japanese" style games we release and our games scratch that itch.
But the biggest I think, is the translation. We know that there can be a lot of jokes that only make sense in Japanese, and that's why we leave the translation to huge Disgaea fans working in our subsidiary in America. I believe they do a good job of localizing it to fit the culture.
4Gamer：
So that way everyone can understand the joke.
Shinkawa:
We've even won an award in America for one of our translations. I think translation quality is often taken for granted and it's not something you get praised on very often. Translation may be one of the keys to our success. To add to that, it's rare for a company of our scope to have a dedicated separate branch in America. The existence of NISA gives us an ideal outlet for selling overseas which also contributes to our success outside of Japan.
4Gamer：
I see.
Shinkawa:
Also in regards to Steam specifically, as I said before I believe it's important to establish a community presence. It's a little different from selling games on a console where for the most part you sell the game and it's done. Even after selling the game, you need to take communication from your fans and keep up good customer support. If you can't even provide those things, you can't hope to build a fanbase. If you can't build a fanbase, your games won't sell.
It's daunting to have to form a subsidiary overseas and hire people specifically for continued support, but if you want to succeed on Steam it's something you're going to have to do.
Though as a company that works in both publishing and development, I'd like to recommend just leaving your games into the hands of NIS America
4Gamer：
Do you have any plans for titles other than the Disgaea series?
Shinkawa:
If possible I'd like to do almost all of our recent games. Of course, there are certain difficulties concerning releasing some games in America...
4Gamer：
You mean like with punishing girls?
Shinkawa:
Right. We were able to release Criminal Girls: Invite Only, but only after some censorship. Games like that can be tricky, I guess. I think for the most part we'll be leaving the selection of what games would be best to put on Steam to NISA. If possible I'd like to release even the games that would seemingly do lousy outside Japan so people can enjoy them, but we'll see.
4Gamer：
Speaking of which, you released Yomawari on Steam. That's a title that doesn't seem like it would garner much popularity outside of Japan.
Shinkawa:
When I was writing the story for Disgaea, I thought the same thing. With all the Japanese anime and manga parodies, there's no way this would sell that well outside Japan. But then lo and behold, other people played it, and they still laughed.
Since then, I was hit by a realization. There are no borders between people who like games. We're all in this together.
I want to continue development for the PC and create more fans around the world. My ideal is for our games to be available for all platforms including PC.
Excuse any typos I didn't feel like proofreading.
There's some more interview stuff in there as well. Of note is the statement that they have a yet unannounced 25th anniversary project in the works