Entrevista: Yasuhiro Fukushima (Presidente Honorário - Square-Enix)

When we held the first Game Hobby Program Contest, the market in Japan was still very small.

There were about ten companies with very few employees developing games.

At that time, a hit was a game that sold three thousand copies.

However, through the contest, we managed to release thirteen games, of which two sold ten thousand copies and another ten surpassed three thousand copies.

In other words, most of the games were commercial successes,

and that caused the entire market to grow, so much so that the next two games we released reached sales of twenty thousand copies.

In that sense, we believe the same can happen here in Latin America and in Brazil, and

this contest could contribute to the overall development of the market.

We are looking at three countries: Brazil, Mexico, and Chile, to decide where we will open our subsidiary.

The reason for my presence on this trip is, in addition to promoting the contest,

to identify the strengths and advantages of these locations in order to choose where to establish our presence.

Brazil's greatest advantages are its large population — 200 million potential consumers — and the great economic moment the country is experiencing.

However, the biggest disadvantage is the high taxes related to our business, which are absurdly high.

First, we want games that really demonstrate the developer's talent,

that serve as proof of the skills they have.

We also want games that are original, innovative, different from anything we've seen out there.

Even in Japan, we are increasingly focusing on mobile platform development. In 2010, revenue from item or accessory sales on those platforms already represented more than half the revenue obtained by the console market. It's a segment that is growing very rapidly, and we believe the same phenomenon will be observed in Latin America, which is why we are putting more and more force into it and launching new titles that are already achieving great success.

So yes, we will focus more and more strongly — not only in Latin America, but also in the US and Europe — on these new gaming platforms.

Yes, we have plans for those areas as well.

One of the contest categories covers browser games, which have every potential to become social games.

We hope to work with this Brazilian potential in the near future.

We know something happened, but I don't have further details.

All the games we produce and release here in Brazil will be in Brazilian Portuguese.

Regarding our more traditional titles, that is still under study.

We obviously have interest, but we still don't have a forecast for when that will happen.

I could say, however, that there is more than a 50% chance of a classic company game being released in Brazilian Portuguese soon.

Certainly, when we have a local subsidiary, our investments in advertising and promotion will increase.

We believe having our own producer close to the developer is very important.

That person should be based here for a good period of time.

A video game is nothing more than a form of entertainment,

and if you look at other entertainment markets, what happens is that most of the most popular content is local content,

as we can observe in Brazil with regard to music.

We believe the same will happen with local games.

In other words, having games developed by native producers is very important.

Everything depends a lot on the market.

If there is a market, not only radio but also games, content, and other services could come to Brazil.

For now, there are no forecasts in that regard.

We conducted a research that lasted about two weeks in November of last year,

visiting various development companies, platform companies,

hardware companies — in short, people who know the Brazilian market —

to gather the necessary information.

Well, what I can say is that our research wasn't just about the console market,

but about the video game market in general.

We learned that the cost of games — and even hardware — in Brazil is excessively expensive,

costing more than double the price practiced in the US.

We believe, in fact, that this is the main reason the industry in Brazil remains so small.

I heard about Microsoft's initiative to produce its hardware locally,

and that with the price reduction there was an explosion in demand.

However, regarding local game publishing, we still have nothing defined.

We would need to have deeper conversations with Sony and Microsoft to do so.

It's something we'd like, but there's nothing concrete yet.

I had the opportunity to talk with many Brazilians and everyone was very friendly.

Regarding the company's popularity, I was surprised — I thought it would be much smaller!

As for the contest's reach, in proportion to population, Chile is leading, followed by Mexico, and then Brazil. But I think after my visit here, we'll see growth in Brazilian participation.

I personally feel very happy to know that our games are loved here too!

And I think about the people who made those games — they must be very happy about it!

Regarding the first point: when I founded the company I never imagined that

I would be today leading a company that is loved all over the world!

I was very focused on growing the industry, so I was only looking at the Japanese market.

Tips for those who want to start their own business in the gaming world:

don't just look at what others have done — try to find your own path.

The most important thing is the timing at which you enter the market.

An example is the Japanese market: in the last twenty years, no major game company has emerged there.

So this is the moment, with the emergence of mobile platforms — this is the time to bet, because once the big companies are established, things become much harder.

Place your bets now and let's work together to make the Latin American and Brazilian market grow!

I can't speak about what it will be like in ten years,

but as a trend I can say that console sales in consolidated markets have been declining,

and what has balanced the books are sales in emerging markets.

That's why we're betting on new mobile platforms.

It's been seven years since I was away from the company, from 2005 until August of last year,

so I don't have much knowledge of the games from that period.

Wow, that's a really difficult question!

I'll have to owe you an answer!

A regret...

None!

Let me think...

Mr. Hiroshi Yamauchi, from Nintendo. He was president of the company from 1950 to 2002 and is the richest man in Japan.

None!

I wouldn't be able to tell you the name of any...

I like people,

so I prefer to play with friends!

I want it to be the biggest company in the world!

And not in thirty, but within the next ten years!

We expect to develop games specifically for the Brazilian public,

so we hope you enjoy them!