Itagaki believes Devil’s Third will be a ‘breakthrough for the industry’

Itagaki believes Devil’s Third will be a ‘breakthrough for the industry’
David Scammell Updated on by

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Devil’s Third’s creator Tomonobu Itagaki still believes the upcoming action-shooter will be a “breakthrough for the industry” that will “take shooters to the next level”, despite the game being heavily criticised in a recent wave of previews.

Speaking to Famitsu (translated via Facebook) about the game’s difficult time in development, Itagaki explained that if he had “given up, then we wouldn’t be able to show our face to all the people that had supported us up to that point.

“There wouldn’t be any opportunity for us to work in this industry anymore,” he said. “That’s just how it is. We developed Ninja Gaiden in 4 years, and that was with us developing multiple lines at the same time, so it’s not a particularly long time. Our desire was to complete the game by any means while establishing our company structure, developing the game itself, and keeping the company going all at the same time. We were finally able to make it through thanks to Nintendo who really made it all possible along with everyone in the industry, and also thanks to the expectations from all the fans and gamers that were waiting. With all that support, I couldn’t be someone who would drop it all and walk away.”

“That’s one part. And on top of all that, we had already made the decision to make the game. We brought in staff to execute that decision. Those staff, their families… I’m repeating myself, but all of our fans… I couldn’t just betray them. ‘So you did it just as some personal responsibility?’ No, it’s not like that either. You know, sometimes if I’m speaking with someone, they’ll tell me that I’ve changed. Establishing my own company, I’m pretty much free to do what I want, and I’m also solely responsible for what I do. It can be a pain sometimes, but at the same time it gets you in the mood to just get it done.”

Devil’s Third began life as an Xbox 360 and PS3 title 6 years ago at defunct publisher THQ. It was later picked up by Nintendo. The game is also reported to have switched engines multiple times throughout development.

“So as I said before, for all the support we’ve received in every form imaginable, and for letting me introduce Devil’s Third like this here today, I’m incredible grateful,” he continued. “Like I said in the beginning, it’s a culmination of everything so far-not just mine, but of everyone that works here. Please try it for yourself. I think it’s going to be a breakthrough for the industry. I believe it’s going to take shooters to the next level.”

Itagaki also spoke of some “heated” exchanges between Nintendo and Valhalla.

“We started the title with THQ, and Nintendo came in with development already underway; so it wasn’t really possible to make any sweeping, fundamental changes,” he said. “With that said though, Valhalla did have a lot of pretty heated back-and-forths with Nintendo like, ‘We think we should go with this,’ or, ‘Don’t you think it’d be better like this?’.”

“Sounds like you were really battling it out,” Famitsu asks.

“Yep. I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but Mario Club was amazing. [laughs]”, Itagaki said. “They are really intense.”

Devil’s Third launches on Wii U on August 28, with the game’s multiplayer mode set to launch separately as a standalone F2P PC title in September.

Source: facebook.com