is a Japanese
video game producer
A video game producer is the top person in charge of overseeing development of a video game.
History
The earliest documented use of the term ''producer'' in games was by Trip Hawkins, who established the position when he founded Electronic Ar ...
, illustrator and businessman. Starting his career at
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
in the late 1980s, his job was as an artist and illustrator. The first two games he worked on were the original ''
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
'' and
''Mega Man'' in 1987. He was then an illustrator and artist of the ''
Mega Man
''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...
'' series during the
NES
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
and
Super NES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...
era.
For ''
Mega Man X
is a series of action platform video games released by Capcom. It is a sub-series of the ''Mega Man'' franchise. The first game was released on December 17, 1993 in Japan (January 1994 in North America) on the Super NES/Super Famicom; most o ...
'', he created and designed the character
Zero
0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation
Positional notation (or place-value notation, or positional numeral system) usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (or ...
.
Inafune then moved onto the position of
producer with his first title being ''
Mega Man 8
''Mega Man 8'' is an action-platform video game developed and released by Capcom in 1996. It was directed by Hayato Kaji and produced by Keiji Inafune, both of whom had previously worked on the series as artists. It is the eighth installment ...
'' in 1996. In addition to being the producer for ''
Mega Man X4
''Mega Man X4'', originally released in Japan as , is a video game developed by Capcom. It is the fourth game in the ''Mega Man X'' series and the second game in the series to be released on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation. The two versions were ...
'', the three ''
Mega Man Legends
''Mega Man Legends'' is a series in the ''Mega Man'' franchise. While the classic series is known for its 2D side-scrolling platformer gameplay with very little story, this series instead features 3D action-adventure gameplay and a robust story ...
'' games, the ''
Mega Man Zero
is a series in Capcom's '' Mega Man'' video game franchise. It was developed by Inti Creates, with Co-Producer Keiji Inafune and Director Yoshinori Kawano. The series consists of four games that were first released on the Game Boy Advance and ...
'' series, the ''
Mega Man Battle Network
is a tactical role-playing video game series created by Masahiro Yasuma and developed and published by Capcom as a spin-off of the ''Mega Man'' series; it premiered in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance and takes place in an alternate continuity wh ...
'' and ''
Mega Man Star Force
, , and are 2006 action role-playing video games developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console; combined, they are the first game in the ''Mega Man Star Force'' series, a sub series of the greater ''Mega Man'' ...
'' series and ''
Mega Man ZX
''Mega Man ZX'' is an action platform game developed by Inti Creates and published by Capcom for Nintendo DS. It was released on July 6, 2006 in Japan, September 12, 2006 in North America, June 20, 2007 in Australia, and June 22, 2007 in Europe. ...
'' and ''
Advent
Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity.
The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''.
In ...
'', Inafune was also a producer of the ''
Lost Planet
''Lost Planet'' is a video game series of third-person shooters published by Capcom. The series follows a number of protagonists on E.D.N III, a planet in the process of an ice age, as they survive and fight the environment, various alien creature ...
'', ''
Dead Rising
is a series of action-adventure games created by Keiji Inafune. It was originally developed by Capcom until Capcom Vancouver took over developing the franchise. As of March 31, 2022, the game series has sold 15 million units worldwide and is ...
'' and ''
Onimusha
is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom. It makes use of the historic figures that shaped Japan's history, retelling their stories with supernatural elements. Most of the games are of the action-adventure genre, a combinat ...
'' series. In 2006, he was promoted to Senior Corporate Officer of Research & Development. In 2010, he became Global Head of Production at Capcom.
He left Capcom in late 2010, and later founded his own companies
Comcept
Level-5 Comcept, formerly known as Comcept Inc., is a Japanese video game developer based in Osaka, founded on December 1, 2010 by Keiji Inafune, formerly of Capcom.
Their projects include ''Soul Sacrifice (video game), Soul Sacrifice'', ''Migh ...
, and Intercept. He also became
Representative Director of DiNG, a
mobile game
A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to ...
studio.
Intercept worked on the game ''
Kaio: King of Pirates'' which was announced in 2011 and cancelled in 2015. While at Comcept, Inafune oversaw work on such games as ''
Mighty No. 9
''Mighty No. 9'' is a 2016 action platform video game developed by Comcept, in conjunction with Inti Creates, and published by Deep Silver. The game was crowdfunded through Kickstarter and incorporated heavy input from the public. ''Mighty No. ...
'', ''
Soul Sacrifice'', and the unreleased ''
Red Ash: The Indelible Legend''.
In 2017, Comcept was purchased and became a subsidiary of
Level-5, becoming
Level-5 Comcept
Level-5 Comcept, formerly known as Comcept Inc., is a Japanese video game developer based in Osaka, founded on December 1, 2010 by Keiji Inafune, formerly of Capcom.
Their projects include ''Soul Sacrifice (video game), Soul Sacrifice'', ''Migh ...
.
Early life
Inafune was born in
Kishiwada, Osaka
is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 190,853 in 88598 households and a population density of 2600 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is well known for its Danjiri Matsu ...
in 1965.
He received a degree in
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...
in 1987 from the Osaka Designers' College.
Career
Early
Soon after graduating the 22-year-old Inafune joined the
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
corporation in 1987, in search of a job as an
illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
. Inafune had initially wanted to join
Konami
, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...
, but Capcom was much closer. In many early game credits at Capcom, he is credited under the name "INAFKING", which he got by combining the name "Snufkin" from the anime series ''
Moomin
The Moomins ( sv, Mumintroll) are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, and a comic strip by Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of white ...
'' with his own name''.''
The first two titles Inafune worked on at Capcom was
''Mega Man'' (known in Japan as ''"Rockman''") for the
Famicom
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...
and the original ''
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
'' for
arcades, both of which were released in 1987.
For ''Street Fighter'', Inafune drew character portraits for the game.
For ''Mega Man'', Inafune designed several minor enemy characters, and also designed the boss character "Elec Man", who was the first original game character that Inafune designed. Inafune had tried to design him as if he was a character an American comic series such as
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
or
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
.
Inafune also drew the Japanese
box art
Video game packaging refers to the physical storage of the contents of a PC or console game, both for safekeeping and shop display. In the past, a number of materials and packaging designs were used, mostly paperboard or plastic. Today, most phy ...
and promotional illustrations and worked on in-game animations and
pixel art
Pixel art () is a form of digital art drawn with graphics software, graphical software where images are built using pixels as the only building block. It is widely associated with the low-resolution graphics from 8-bit and 16-bit era computers a ...
. Director
Akira Kitamura created the original static pixel art sprite for Rock Man (later called "Mega Man" outside of Japan). This was to ensure that the sprite could be properly seen against the game's backgrounds, and could work in the game. After that, the pixel art was handed over to artist Inafune, who created a refined illustration of the character.
Inafune refers to this process as "like a reverse character design" as it is the opposite of what typically occurs, where artists create concept art which is then translated into game's graphics.
During a special event at
TGS 2007, Inafune clarified his role in the creation of Mega Man.
"I'm often called the father of Mega Man, but actually, his design was already created when I joined Capcom," he explained. "My mentor Akira_Kitamura.html" ;"title="apcom senior member Akira Kitamura">apcom senior member Akira Kitamura who was the designer of the original Mega Man, had a basic concept of what Mega Man was supposed to look like. So I only did half of the job in creating him."
The first ''Mega Man'' game was released in December 1987, after which sales in both countries were decent, but as Inafune later notes, "While it did sell more than we had expected,
ockman 1wasn't a huge success as far as the numbers go."
Akira Kitamura suggested to create a contest to solicit designs from fans for Robot Masters for Mega Man games. The first game to do this was ''
Mega Man 2
''Mega Man 2'' is an action game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in Japan in 1988 and in North America and PAL regions the following years. ''Mega Man 2'' continues Mega Man (character), ...
'' and it was Inafune's job to turn those winning designs into finished professional designs.
The next game in the series was ''
Mega Man 3
''Mega Man 3'' (stylized as ''Mega Man III'') is an action- platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third game of the original ''Mega Man'' series and was originally released in ...
'', released in Japan on September 28, 1990 and later released in North America in November 1990. Inafune considers ''Mega Man 3'' to be one of his least favorite ''Mega Man'' games. From an interview with ''
Nintendo Power
''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...
'' in the October 2007 issue, Inafune explained that the reason was because of "...what went into the game and what was behind the release of the game." He also stated that the team was forced to put the game out before they thought it was ready and that during the game's production, the developers had lost the main planner, Inafune having to take his position. Inafune concluded, "I knew that if we had more time to polish it, we could do a lot of things better, make it a better game, but the company (Capcom) said that we needed to release it. The whole environment behind what went into the production of the game is what I least favored. Numbers one and two – I really wanted to make the games; I was so excited about them. Number three – it just turned very different."
The next original character design Inafune would create was the character "Punk" in the 1992 Game Boy game
Mega Man III.
Capcom set on the development on a new series for the
Super NES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...
,
''Mega Man X'', which continued the plot of the original series, but set a darker tone and took place 100 years after the previous storyline. Inafune designed the character Zero for the games. "I didn't get to completely design a Mega Man
rotagonistfrom scratch until Zero (Mega Man X, SNES). Back when the SNES was coming out, I was asked to give Mega Man a redesign, so I created this character. But I realized that this design wouldn't be accepted as Mega Man, so I had another designer create the new Mega Man, and I worked on Zero to release him as the 'other main character' that would steal all the good scenes!"
Hayato Kaji took over lead illustrator role for ''
Mega Man 7
''Mega Man 7'' (stylized as ''Mega Man VII'') is an action platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the seventh game in the original ''Mega Man'' series. The game was released in J ...
'', which was released in 1995. Inafune contributed some designs to the game. He designed the character of Auto, as well as the initial sketches for two new characters named "Baroque" and "Crush". These characters were handed over to Kaji who finished the design, and they became known as Bass and Treble.
Producer
Long time producer
Tokuro Fujiwara
, sometimes credited as Professor F or Arthur King, is a Japanese video game designer, involved in the development of many classic Capcom video games. He directed early Capcom titles such as the run-and-gun shooter ''Commando'' (1985), the platf ...
, departed Capcom. Inafune was then made producer for the next Mega Man title,
Mega Man 8
''Mega Man 8'' is an action-platform video game developed and released by Capcom in 1996. It was directed by Hayato Kaji and produced by Keiji Inafune, both of whom had previously worked on the series as artists. It is the eighth installment ...
in 1996. Inafune produced the three-dimensional ''
Mega Man Legends
''Mega Man Legends'' is a series in the ''Mega Man'' franchise. While the classic series is known for its 2D side-scrolling platformer gameplay with very little story, this series instead features 3D action-adventure gameplay and a robust story ...
'' series after receiving requests from Sony to develop a new 3D ''Mega Man'' series exclusively for the PlayStation. Although he envisioned high sales and was an ambitious supporter to the development of the game, it was not a massive success and Inafune likens it to a "clumsy son".
Inafune says it was quite difficult to promote the game, as there was little media interest in yet another Mega man title.
Inafune was a promotion producer for ''
Resident Evil 2
''Resident Evil 2'' is a 1998 survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation. The player controls Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, who must escape Raccoon City after its citizens a ...
'', which in contrast to Mega Man Legends, had huge interest and was an easy game to sell.
Originally, Inafune had intended to end the series with ''
Mega Man X5
''Mega Man X5'', known as in Japan, is a video game developed by Capcom. It is the fifth main installment in the '' Mega Man X'' series. It was first released for the PlayStation in Japan on November 30, 2000 and in North America and PAL territor ...
'', stating, "I had very little to do with ''X5''. I just told the team to 'finish off the series with this title,' and left it at that. That's why the game itself has a real feel of finality to it." Instead, he became co-producer for the new ''Mega Man'' game that
Inti Creates
is a Japanese video game development company. Formed by ex-Capcom staff in May 1996, they are best known for developing games in the ''Mega Man'' series, namely the ''Mega Man Zero'' and ''Mega Man ZX'' series, and their flagship ''Azure Striker ...
had been commissioned to develop, and requested that they make Zero the main character. However, Capcom chose to continue the X series without him, extending it to ''
Mega Man X8
''Mega Man X8'', known as in Japan, is an action platform game developed and published by Capcom originally for the PlayStation 2 on December 7, 2004. It is the eight and most recent installment of the ''Mega Man X'' subseries of the ''Mega Man'' ...
''.
Inafune also developed another series, the samurai-era Japanese themed ''
Onimusha
is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom. It makes use of the historic figures that shaped Japan's history, retelling their stories with supernatural elements. Most of the games are of the action-adventure genre, a combinat ...
'', which has spawned various sequels.
Keiji Inafune was producer for the ''
Mega Man Battle Network
is a tactical role-playing video game series created by Masahiro Yasuma and developed and published by Capcom as a spin-off of the ''Mega Man'' series; it premiered in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance and takes place in an alternate continuity wh ...
'' series, which is set outside the continuity of the rest of the ''Mega Man'' story lines and introduced
role-playing
Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...
and
strategic elements. According to Inafune, he received the basis for creating the series from observing his son. Inafune contributed the redesign of Mega Man for the first game, and he says it took quite a bit of convincing for the artists to let him do it, and even then they made additional changes to Inafune's redesign.
Senior Corporate Officer
In 2006 Inafune was promoted from corporate officer to senior corporate officer.
Inafune and his team's next creation was ''
Dead Rising
is a series of action-adventure games created by Keiji Inafune. It was originally developed by Capcom until Capcom Vancouver took over developing the franchise. As of March 31, 2022, the game series has sold 15 million units worldwide and is ...
'' for the
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
. ''Dead Rising'', initially started as a sequel to ''
Shadow of Rome'', with the same team members, before changing story, setting, and time period. The game is a zombie-slaying game heavily influenced by
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero (; February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His ''Night of the Living Dead'' series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the 1968 film of the ...
's 1978 movie ''
Dawn of the Dead''. It was released by Capcom in the U.S. on August 8, 2006.
Inafune became acquainted with
Ben Judd
Ben Judd (born October 25, 1974) is an American translator, producer, and agent. He is a former Capcom employee. Judd is an American and lives in Japan and became Capcom's first non-Japanese producer. Judd has had several voice acting cameos in ...
when he was working on ''
Dead Rising
is a series of action-adventure games created by Keiji Inafune. It was originally developed by Capcom until Capcom Vancouver took over developing the franchise. As of March 31, 2022, the game series has sold 15 million units worldwide and is ...
''. After this, Judd would often act as a translator for Inafune in public events.
Inafune was a producer for Inti Creates' game ''
Mega Man ZX
''Mega Man ZX'' is an action platform game developed by Inti Creates and published by Capcom for Nintendo DS. It was released on July 6, 2006 in Japan, September 12, 2006 in North America, June 20, 2007 in Australia, and June 22, 2007 in Europe. ...
'', and the sequel title ''
Mega Man ZX Advent
''Mega Man ZX Advent'', known in Japan as , is an action-platform video game developed by Inti Creates and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. The game was first released in Japan on July 12, 2007; in North America on ...
''.
Inafune had the idea of going back to the simple gameplay of the original Mega Man series, and was a producer for the game
Mega Man 9
''Mega Man 9'' is a 2008 action-platform video game developed by Capcom and Inti Creates. It is the ninth numbered game in the original ''Mega Man'' series (Or tenth game overall when including ''Mega Man & Bass''). ''Mega Man 9'' is the firs ...
. The game was developed by
Inti-Creates along with Capcom, and Inafune contributed two designs for the project: Splash Woman and Plug Man. The game was followed up by a similar sequel,
Mega Man 10
''Mega Man 10'' is an action- platform video game developed by Inti Creates and Capcom. It is the tenth main entry of the original ''Mega Man'' series. The game was released as a downloadable title for the console gaming services WiiWare, Pla ...
in 2010.
Inafune was a producer for the ''
Dead Rising 2
''Dead Rising 2'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Blue Castle Games and published by Capcom. It was released between September and October 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. It is a sequel to ''Dead Ris ...
'', and opted to hire
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
developer
Blue Castle Games
Capcom Game Studio Vancouver, Inc. (formerly Blue Castle Games Inc.), more commonly known as Capcom Vancouver, was a Canadian video game developer owned by Capcom with minority stake partnership by Microsoft Studios. As Blue Castle Games, the c ...
as a developer rather than having it developed in-house at Capcom like the first game was.
The game was released in 2010. In addition, he made his director debut in the short film series ''Zombrex: Dead Rising Sun''.
The last mainline Street Fighter game was ''
Street Fighter EX3
is a 2D head-to-head fighting game with 3D graphics, developed by Arika and published by Capcom. It is the third and final console installment in the ''Street Fighter EX'' series. The game was first released on March 4, 2000 in Japan and on Oct ...
'' in 2000, and there was reluctance at Capcom to release another numeric entry in the series.
Producer
Yoshinori Ono pitched ''
Street Fighter IV
is a 2008 fighting game published by Capcom, who also co-developed the game with Dimps. It was the first original main entry in the series since '' Street Fighter III'' in 1997, a hiatus of eleven years.
The coin-operated arcade game version wa ...
'' to Inafune, who was head of R&D at the time.
Inafune approved the project, due to the positive reception to ''
Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting'' on
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...
and fans interest.
Street Fighter IV was released first in arcades in Japan in 2008, and then on home consoles in 2009. The original console version of SFIV went on to sell 3.4 million copies.
On April 22, 2010, it was announced that Inafune would be Capcom's Global Head of Production. Inafune stated "I want to end comments that Capcom games made in Europe aren't really Capcom games ... basically saying that whether games are created in America or Japan or anywhere in the world, I will be the one overlooking it and so it will have that Capcom flavor that fans know and love."
Modern Japanese games
Inafune has voiced various negative views on modern Japanese game developers, stating that they are behind Western developers in innovation. At the 2009
Tokyo Game Show
, commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. ...
while promoting ''Dead Rising 2'', and speaking through his translator and Capcom employee Judd, Inafune stated "Personally when I looked around
tall the different games at the TGS floor, I said 'Man, Japan is over. We're done. Our game industry is finished.'"
He also said "“I look around Tokyo Games Show, and everyone’s making awful games; Japan is at least five years behind.”
In 2012, Inafune defended
Phil Fish
Philippe Poisson (born November 1, 1984), better known as Phil Fish, is a French Canadian former indie game designer best known for his work on the 2012 platform game '' Fez''. He was born and raised in Quebec, where his experiences with Nint ...
's statements criticizing modern Japanese video games, saying: "It's very severe, but very honest. Unless Japanese people feel embarrassed from the experience of getting harsh comments, saying
ew gamescould have been better is not an opinion they would take seriously. When they're embarrassed and they feel obliged to change, it would make a difference."
In 2012 at the
Game Developer's Conference
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tut ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, Inafune again disparaged the state of Japanese gaming.
He said, "Back in the day Japanese games were used to winning and were used to success. We celebrated all sorts of victories. However at some point these winners became losers. Not accepting that fact has led to the tragic state of Japanese games today."
Comcept, Intercept, Ding
On October 29, 2010, Inafune announced on his blog that he would be leaving Capcom with the intention of "starting his life over". He had been with the company for 23 years.
In an interview with
4Gamer he stated "The reason why I'm quitting is basically because I think that the game industry itself must change the way it goes about making games,". He cited that job security creates complacency among staff, and big budgets with very large staff, as problems with current Japanese game companies.
On December 15, 2010, Inafune launched a new company called Comcept, based in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
.
Comcept was a design and production studio, which does not develop games internally, but rather pairs up with studios to co-develop them, and was to work on media outside of games.
In January 2011, he launched another new company called Intercept, based in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
.
Intercept was focused on game development.
Inafune's guiding philosophy behind Comcept was to work on multiple games at once, work on ideas they themselves created, and to have flexibility of doing multiple genres. Inafune cites the need for flexibility as being necessary for the company to survive.
During his time at Comcept, he was often given the credit of "Conceptor" on the games he has worked on.
In December 2011, Inafune became
Representative Director of DiNg, a
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
game developer.
Intercept began work on the game Kaio: King of Pirates, in 2012. Set for a release on the 3DS console, it was a pirate themed game starring loosely based on
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...
. The game was cancelled in 2015 by its publisher
Marveolous Inc and they lost 461 million yen (roughly US$3.8 million) on the project.
Inafune has made several cameo appearances in games. In the 2011 game ''
Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2'', a scanned image of Inafune himself makes an appearance as a summon for the main character Nepgear during a special attack. Comcept was a co-developer along with
Idea Factory
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher founded by former Data East employees in October 1994. A division of the company makes otome games under the name of Otomate. An international branch, Idea Factory Internatio ...
on the
otome game ''
Sweet Fuse: At Your Side''. A character bearing both Inafune's likeness and name appears in the game, who is a kidnapped uncle.
''
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z'' was a collaboration between Comcept,
Team Ninja
is a Japanese video game developer, and a division of Koei Tecmo, founded in 1995 as a part of Tecmo. It is founded and formerly led by Tomonobu Itagaki, later by Yosuke Hayashi, and is best known for the ''Ninja Gaiden'' action-adventure gam ...
and
Spark Unlimited
Spark Unlimited, based in Sherman Oaks, California, was a video game developer founded by former developers from the ''Medal of Honor'' video game franchise.
The studio's first game was '' Call of Duty: Finest Hour'' in 2004. Its last game was ...
and it is a spin-off of the Ninja Gaiden series. Released in 2014 it received both poor sales and reviews.
Inafune says poor timing is to blame for the sales, as players were transitioning to the
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
console, and defends the title saying it had good gameplay.
On August 31, 2013, Inafune started a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
project for a game Comcept and
Inti-Creates were working on that is a
spiritual successor to Mega Man series, known as ''
Mighty No. 9
''Mighty No. 9'' is a 2016 action platform video game developed by Comcept, in conjunction with Inti Creates, and published by Deep Silver. The game was crowdfunded through Kickstarter and incorporated heavy input from the public. ''Mighty No. ...
''.
After multiple delays, the game was released in 2016 and was met with a mixed critical reception. A livestream on the
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...
platform was done during the release of the game. Speaking through his agent and translator Judd, Inafune said: "You know, I want to word this in a way to explain some of the issues that come with trying to make a game of this size on multiple platforms." adding "I'm kind of loath to say this because it's going to sound like an excuse and I don't want to make any excuses. I own all the problems that came with this game and if you want to hurl insults at me, it's totally my fault. I'm the key creator. I will own that responsibility."
Judd added that he thought the game's problems stemmed from doing all the ports of the game and the base game at the same time, and that they had under-estimated the amount of work the project would require.
Inafune is an advisor for Inflexion Point Capital, who announced in 2014 that they would be giving out seed investments of 100 to 500 thousand to Japanese mobile developers.
At
Electronic Entertainment Expo
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publisher ...
2015 it was announced the Inafune was working with
Armature Studio to make a new video game for the
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
called ''
ReCore
''ReCore'' is an action-adventure and platform video game developed by Comcept and Armature Studio, with assistance from Asobo Studio, and published by Microsoft Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. The game was released worldwide in ...
''. On July 4, 2015 Inafune announced that he was once again using Kickstarter to fund a Mega Man Legends spiritual successor along with an anime based on the game called ''
Red Ash'', which failed to reach its funding goal.
In June 2017, Comcept was purchased by
Level-5 and became
Level-5 Comcept
Level-5 Comcept, formerly known as Comcept Inc., is a Japanese video game developer based in Osaka, founded on December 1, 2010 by Keiji Inafune, formerly of Capcom.
Their projects include ''Soul Sacrifice (video game), Soul Sacrifice'', ''Migh ...
, with Inafune becoming its
chief communications officer
The public relations officer (PRO) or chief communications officer (CCO) or corporate communications officer is a C-suite level officer responsible for communications, public relations, and/or public affairs in an organization. Typically, the CCO ...
.
Works
Games
Film
References
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Inline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Inafune, Keiji
1965 births
Capcom people
Japanese video game businesspeople
Japanese video game producers
Living people
Mega Man
People from Kishiwada, Osaka
Video game artists