Haruki Satomi may be young, but he carries quite a few titles. He is chairman and CEO of Sega, President and CEO of Sega Games and of Sammy Corporation, and more. As such, he’s one of the men with the most influence in determining the direction of the popular Japanese publisher.
Considering his position, you’d almost expect him to say that his favorite games are from Sega’s iconic Sonic the Hedgehog series, but apparently, Satomi-san’s taste is better satisfied by some of the more niche entries into the publisher’s catalog.
Asked by CNBC, he mentioned that some of his favorites are the Yakuza and Valkyria Chronicles series.
We can’t say that Satomi-san does not have good taste.
During the same interview, he also mentioned that Sega is planning to launch more than ten games this year, and he stressed on the importance of western releases.
“When we try to launch our game, typically Japanese developers focus only on the Japanese market but we keep asking them to see the global market and we agreed with them to at least launch the game simultaneously in Asia and Japan, and then we’ll bring it to the West as soon as we can.”
We also hear that as an executive, he tries to empower his creator, and doesn’t get too involved in the content or design themselves of the games. Asked whether he actually tests the game out himself he responded:
“A little bit, but I try not to see the details because I’m not a creative video game type. Of course I see if something is affected in the game itself but instead of me saying so, our trusted man, trusted producer should be responsible for the specific title. But I decide the direction of the game, like I said we should prioritize the quality not schedule and we should listen to the consumers or fans opinions.”
On this theme, he also confirmed that he instructed his development and sales teams that games should not be released unless they’re confident in its quality.
If you want to hear more about Haruki Satomi’s ideas, you can read another recent article about them.
If you’re interested in the Yakuza series, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life has just been released for PS4, you can enjoy our review, and find the retail version on Amazon.
If Valkyria Chronicles is more your drift, the fourth game of the series is coming for PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. You can preorder it on Amazon as well.
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