Nagoshi Studio – since that’s its name – even already has an official website. For now, it does not reveal anything about the future plans of the new structure, but you can still find a presentation of the team behind it and a message from its co-founder. Toshihiro Nagoshi is indeed accompanied by several other founding members, including Daisuke Sato, former producer of the series of Yakuza ; Kazuki Hosokawa, who worked on the design of Panzer Dragoon and Jet-Set Radio, before becoming artistic director and director on Yakuza ; Koji Tokieda, lead programmer on Yakuza: Like A Dragon ; Masao Shirosaki, game designer who also worked on Yakuza, whose spin off Kurohyo, and the soccer game series Sakatsuku ; Mitsunori Fujimoto, former engineer at SEGA; Noaki Someya, artist involved in the development of several SEGA arcade games and artistic director on the series of Judgment ; Taichi Ushioda, director and alumnus of Square Enix, Level-5 and SEGA; and finally Toshihiro Ando, character designer principal on the series of Judgment.
You will find below the message published by Toshihiro Nagoshi on the official website of his studio, in its entirety.
The wave of change that began in the entertainment industry at the end of the 20th century has led to even greater changes in the 21st century.
The evolution of entertainment content, the way it is produced, and the business model driven by advances in technology and infrastructure have triggered a paradigm shift, and these changes are continuing at an ever-increasing speed.
What only yesterday was considered the pinnacle of cool suddenly becomes outdated in no time.
For creators, this makes working in today’s industry incredibly difficult.
But no matter how times change, I believe what people basically expect from entertainment hasn’t changed at all.
People see their dreams in entertainment.
They expect entertainment to give them hope in life, soothe them in difficult times, and excite them in happy times. People turn to entertainment to give impetus to all kinds of events.
The appetite for entertainment is the same today as it was yesterday.
There are obviously differences between the past and the present in the way entertainment is consumed, its volume and its speed, but its essence remains the same.
The only way to offer this essence to the world is for all creators to approach the works they create with seriousness and clarity, while working hard to come closer to the ideal.
One of my goals in this studio is to create an open atmosphere.
This may seem like too simplistic a goal.
But even the most talented creators cannot unleash their abilities if they are isolated.
I think the first step to creating high quality titles and delivering the essence of entertainment with strong motivation starts with creating an open atmosphere in the studio.
It means having open discussions that ignore seniority and hierarchy.
This means not being afraid of mistakes, but also not being afraid to correct them, and seeing failures as strengths. It means not giving up on achieving the ideal, and striving to get closer to it.
It may seem so simple, but the simplest things can unexpectedly be the hardest to do, and at the same time the most important.
Nagoshi Studio is committed to creating content for the world to enjoy this atmosphere.