Falcom's President Shares the Studio's Secret to Surviving in the Brutally Competitive Games Industry for More Than 30 Years

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The Transition to the PS4 and the Rise of the Switch

Ys VIII and Trails of Cold Steel 3 both kind of mark Falcom's transition on to the PS4. In your opinion, what's the state of the PS4 in Japan?

TK: If you look at the situation of the PS4 worldwide you'll notice that it's actually a little bit behind in Japan as to what you'd expect it to be. Obviously there was a period where developers were making a lot of games for smartphones as well as portable systems. A lot of developers have since kind of stopped or at least put on hold working on smartphone games and returned to developing for PS4 specifically. That might be a good sign of things to come that more developers will actually shift towards making more games for PS4.

My friends in Japan often worry that traditional console and PC games are going away because mobile is so popular in Japan. What's your perspective on that?

TK: I definitely understand that fear. One of the big appeals of smartphone games is that you can play them for free, and so this idea that you can have a good time and entertain yourself without paying a dime is very appealing. That said, I believe that there are only things that can be done on console games, and we want to continue to do that so that we can create the situation where both console and smartphone gaming can peacefully coexist.

As the president of a very traditional game developer, does mobile's continuing growing popularity make you nervous?

TK: Rather than feeling worry or fear about it, perhaps there's an opportunity. We're going to continue to do the best we can to make great console games. But by the same token, there might be an opportunity to make a smart phone game that only Falcom can make, so I want to keep my eyes open and see if those opportunities do exist.

Your games have quite a devoted audience here in North America. Were you really expecting it to have this kind of global appeal?

TK: Not at all. As you know, Trails is very story focused, so those games were originally developed with the Japanese audience in mind. To this day I'm surprised that they became so popular and so loved by people that are not Japanese.

Do you see the "Trails" series as being this kind of ongoing thing or do you have an end in mind?

TK: In addition to what's there and what's coming out right now, we do have a definitive plan for the entire thing. Yes, at some point it does end. At the end of Trails of Cold Steel II about sixty percent of the story will have been told.

Falcom has been a big supporter of the Vita. How much longer do you think the Vita's going to remain popular in Japan? Do you see it as being on the decline?

TK: For the past few years we've been primarily focused on the Vita and a lot of our fanbase has been there. That said, it's undeniable that now in Japan the market is kind of shrinking. One thing you'll notice especially is that a lot of the games that are now coming out for the Vita are visual novels or things like this. The amount of space being given to Vita products in general where you go is getting smaller and smaller. Yeah, it's definitely kind of on the decline, even in Japan as well.

You also see more developers in Japan shift their development towards PS4. Another big thing for Falcom specifically in regards to shifting for platform they're developing for is foreign sales. Foreign sales have reached a point with both the Trails series and Ys where we can't ignore them from a development angle anymore.[Ys: Memories of Celceta], for example, sold more outside of Japan than it did inside of Japan. Because Vita has kind of been on the decline for a while outside of Japan, and because the PS4 userbase is pretty established elsewhere, we have begun shifting toward PS4 development.

What are your thoughts on the Nintendo Switch?

TK: As a platform it's extremely Nintendo-like. As a game player myself I'm really excited for it and what it can do. At the moment we don't have anything in development or plans for development. That said, should someone on staff bring up an interesting idea or something, we'd be more than happy to entertain it and develop a game for Switch.

There's been speculation that the Switch will kind of replace the 3DS and the Vita in the Japanese market. Do you think that's possible?

TK: One particular characteristic of people who play a Vita is that they're really into really, really niche games. There's a certain genre of games in Japan called otome games which are games made for girls and right now they're heavily concentrated on the Vita. Should those games not go to Switch, then there's really no reason for their fans to purchase it. Therefore, it's up to the kind of lineup that will come out on the Switch to see who moves over there.

What is the biggest opportunity facing Falcom going forward? And what is the biggest challenge?

TK: A big opportunity is PlayStation 4. Ys VIII came out a few weeks ago in Japan and it's off to a really, really good start. A big opportunity for us then is to really find our footing on PlayStation 4 and to continue to develop good games for it. We're also wondering what to do with smartphones. Everybody on staff is pretty focused on making console games and they all want to make console games, yet it's clear that there's a really big opportunity for games on smartphones. A big thing that I think about constantly is how to make Falcom a game for the smartphone.

Handheld and smartphone games are obviously still very popular, but do you feel consoles are starting to make a recovery in Japan?

TK: It's a really good observation and I think that you're right, especially compared to the time period when PSP and DS kind of dominated things. I really feel that PS4 is a lot stronger. Just looking at amount of units sold compared to that time period, you can see that it's doing a lot better. In a way, developers have kind of had their fun and played with smartphone development, and now they're gradually moving back towards console development. I'm not sure that the consoles will ever return to their heyday; but by the same token, more and more developers are willing to go back and try to make games for a console. That really bodes well for console gaming and smartphone gaming at least being able to coexist together.

For them specifically as makers of content, the important thing is what's going to be fun for people to play. If that's handheld or if that's console, then so be it. It's their job to figure out how to make that the most fun for those people who are playing it.

Ys VIII will be out on PS4 and Vita on September 12.