Resident Evil producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi has established a new studio with NetEase.
GPTRACK50, as its called, aims to create original IP that will “impress the whole world”, not just games, but films and entertainment series.
Kobayashi, who will take the role of president, has been involved in the production of Resident Evils live-action and CG animation series, as well as the Resident Evil games, Dino Crisis, Dragons Dogma, Devil May Cry and more.
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“I believe that NetEase Games, a company with extensive experience in investment and co-development, is a very reliable business partner in developing high quality games and entertainment projects,” said Kobayashi.
“With the support and respect from NetEase in understanding me and my teams development achievements and values, I will build a stronger team with the goal of creating more original quality contents that will satisfy users around the world.”
Kobayashi announced his departure from Capcom back in August, with the intention of joining NetEase.
At the start of the year, Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi also moved to NetEase.
“I worked on a wide array of titles at Capcom, but I wanted a new challenge,” Kobayashi told IGN.
“Of course, its not like Capcom didnt allow me to try out new things, but now that the company is a lot bigger, things are different from the way they were when I joined the company as a freshman back in 1995. Everything now needs to be approved and things just take more time to get greenlit. Im the kind of creator that wants to be able to deliver a new experience while it still feels fresh, and I had been thinking of creating my own studio to make that possible.”
He also hinted at what the studios first game may be and confirmed it will have global appeal.
“After making action games at Capcom for so many years, it would be a bit weird if I was now making an adventure game or a dating sim, wouldnt it?” he said.
“That being said, I dont want to do the exact same thing as I have been doing at Capcom either. Mixing my expertise up with things that my new position at NetEase allows me to do should make for an interesting action game. While NetEase is known for mobile games and online gaming, I do have to say that I want to continue developing for the console and PC market.”
The game wont be aimed at casual gamers, though.
“I dont see the need to reach out to the kind of person who only plays one game per year,” he said. “Of course, there are plenty of games that do go after the more casual player, but for our first project I want to create a new experience for a more core audience that is seriously invested in playing games. Rather than creating something anyone can enjoy, I want to have a clear type of gamer that it will appeal to. Of course, its not like Im trying to eliminate potential players, and anyone willing to give it a try will make me happy, but the more serious type of gamer is definitely our main target audience.”