Devil's Third budget could almost make every Itagaki game combined

Former Team Ninja lead Tomonobu Itagaki has said the biggest difference in working for a Western publisher is the massive piles of money available.

"I’ve made more than 30 games, and if you put a little bit more [money] into the one I’m making now, Devil’s Third, I could make all of the 30 games I made before," he told Game Informer.

"That’s the big difference. The budget you use for the promotion is completely different too. Those are the biggest differences."

Itagaki, whose former role at a publisher could be considered to put him in the know, said Japanese publishers aren't in a position to throw the same level of resources at games.

"It’s not a matter of difficulty, it’s just the only scale that they can manage to do," he said.

Asked whether financial difficulties are the motivation for several high profile departures from Japanese publishers over the last few years, Itagaki said every resignation had different motivations, and refused to generalise.

"The reason [Final Fantasy creator Hironobu] Sakaguchi quit working with Square was because the movie [Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within] failed. The reason [Mega Man creator Keiji] Inafune left [Capcom] was because there was a fight. The reason [Resident Evil creator Shinji] Mikami left [Capcom] was rather vague. It’s not simple to explain. The main reason was he had a political fight within the company, too, and he was forced to leave the company," Itagaki revealed.

Devil's Third is an action title to be published by THQ and expected in 2013. Itagaki noted that the game has not come under pressure from THQ's ongoing financial woes.

Thanks, RipTen.