Following it's Revitalizing The Legacy interview, Gamasutra catches up with Taito's senior producer for mobile products in the U.S. Keiji Fujita. We discuss with him the shifting sands of the current mobile games industry and Square Enix and Taito's evolving relationship.
Since we last spoke, Exit has been released on XBLA.
Keiji Fujita: I haven’t heard any news about the game in the United States. The Live Arcade version was done by Taito in Japan; I didn't get involved.
Are you trying to get involved with Taito Live Arcade stuff in the future?
KF: Maybe. I can't really get involved. I found out about the Live Arcade right after I came to the United States in September 2006. But my proposal was rejected by the management team, unfortunately. They say they prefer to do everything in Japan.
That's weird, because a lot of companies now are trying to get their U.S. operations to take care of things that are Western orientated. Why do you think that is?
KF: I think they'd prefer to go directly...
To Microsoft? I see. Looking at Taito's mobile market, is that going well?
KF: Yeah, there is a breath of change. AT&T and Sprint Nextel are trying to downsize the number of official content providers. For AT&T, I think less than 10 companies survived, and Sprint Nextel also downsized to 12, I think. On the Sprint Nextel side, I think they're trying to minimize the number of games as well. Under 250 games, in fact. So now Square Enix and Taito don't have direct communication anymore. We have to go through one of the three aggregators.
Why do you think they're cutting down so much?
KF: Maybe there are too many games on the deck, maybe they want to remove the non-profit making games. They're trying to enhance their product line at their storefront, I guess.
It's interesting that they think that's the problem, because a lot of people could say that since the deck is the main content delivery platform, that's more of a problem.
KF: Yes, exactly. But now the door is no longer wide open, so we have to be very careful of making a new game. If we launch a new game on U.S. mobile carriers, before we cover the initial costs the game could be removed from the deck, which would be very harmful to us. This kind of thing already happened with Verizon Wireless last year. They are very strict about the product lineup, and they have some internal standards. If the sales of a certain game are below their standards, then they will instantly remove it from their deck.
Even though it's a download market, it sounds like they're trying to turn it into a retail market.
KF: Exactly.
It's very strange, because it's just conceptual space that they're trying to free up. It's not actual shelf space.
KF: I think not only Square Enix and Taito are having problems. I think the rest of the game publishers have had the same problem. I'm still seeking a breakthrough. I have to reconsider our business structure and business scheme and everything. I have to reevaluate. In fact, I'm already seeking a new business partner for the U.S. market. I can't disclose exactly who I'm talking with, but I'm talking with four companies. We will eventually select one of them, and this company will be our new business partner for the mobile game business in the United States.
Someone who will distribute Taito and Square Enix games?
KF: Yes. All I can do is prepare the summary report, so that management chain and eventually our president of Taito, Yoichi Wada, will make an executive decision who to work with. It's going to happen pretty soon.
