Keita Takahashi, the creator of Katamari Damacy, has revealed he left Bandai Namco so he wouldn’t “be limited to only working with […] Japanese people”.
Takahashi – who left Bandai Namco in 2010 after 11 years and recently announced his next project, To a T, which is set to be published by Annapurna – stressed the importance of sharing skills and experiences with developers from all over the world to “get ideas from different perspectives”.
“I left [Bandai Namco] because I didn’t want to be limited to only working with the people there. I wondered why I was only making games with Japanese people,” Takahashi told GameSpark (thanks, Automaton).
“I thought if I could develop games with more people from other countries, I would be able to get ideas from different perspectives.
“I’m currently developing games with a range of people from all over the world.”
Takahashi added that knowing the different customs and cultural expectations of different countries is also valuable when making games.
“American schools don’t have the custom of changing shoes like Japanese schools do,” Takahashi explained. “I was once asked by a team member about what the school space full of shoe cupboards was like. I tried to convey to them that there are loads of shoes, and there’s a kind of smell… but it really is something that’s unique to Japan.
“I don’t know what school culture is like in the US, so I had no choice but to use Japanese elements.”
Takahashi finished on saying he was committed to “mak[ing] games that I feel satisfied with, so I’d like people to play them if they want to”.
“I guess I probably should make games while thinking about the target audience, but I’ll work on that in my next life,” he added.
To a T will release on 28th May on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, including Xbox Game Pass.
A new Katamari Damacy game was also recently revealed, which will release exclusively on Apple Arcade.
Katamari Damacy Rolling Live will be the first original game in the series in almost eight years and will arrive on Apple Arcade on 3rd April. Once again, players will need to roll the Katamari to “roll, stick, and grow” and please the King of All Cosmos.