SE CEO Yoihci Wada recently did an interview with Ars, and almost promises simultaneous worldwide releases for future games (after FF13).
"For the last three years, we have worked very hard to close the gap between Japanese release timing and North American and European release timing," Wada said. "We tried to go for the global, simultaneous release but that was something that was inconceivable, in a sense. But we have been able to close that release window gap to three months. For us, it was a very big step forward."
In the future, Wada says that these kinds of games, which are released so close to one another, will actually be held back in Japan to make way for a simultaneous worldwide release. However, FFXIII was an exception.
Bringing MW2 to Japan:
But SE is not only trying to make games that appeal to Western audiences, it's also trying to make Western-developed games more appealing to Japanese gamers. Case in point: Modern Warfare 2 will be released in Japan this December, published by SE. And while first-person shooters haven't traditionally seen much success in Japan, this doesn't seem to worry Wada.
He also talks about the Japanase market.
"The Japanese community tends to be closed," he told Ars. "In the past, Japanese retailers have said that Japanese gamers have their own idiosyncrasies and tastes, and that that is the reason why the audience is not accepting of overseas titles. But I believe that is not the case, it was just a matter of poorly executed marketing."
And with SE's extensive experience with the Japanese market, Wada believes they will be able to turn MW2 into a success.
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