14 DAY TRIAL // Capcom, the Japanese company behind massive franchises like Street Fighter or the Resident Evil one, has talked about working with an external developer, Slant Six Games, on the upcoming Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, and how the Vancouver, Canada-based studio impressed it with its efficiency and concepts.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City marks a major departure from the established recipe of the series, by not only truly embracing the tactical shooter gameplay or allowing players to mess around within the established history of the franchise, but also because it’s being made by an external developer, and not by Capcom itself.
Now, speaking about this unique collaboration between the Japanese company and Slant Six Games, Operation Raccoon City producer Masachika Kawata said that the Canadian studio impressed by having an efficient view of development, knowing what to focus on throughout the creation process.
“What impressed me about working with Slant Six Games is how efficient they are in development. Japanese companies tend to be very particular about each specific aspect. However, most companies in other countries clearly establish what they need to focus on and what they can cut out during the development period. This is definitely an aspect of product management that we should adopt,” Kawata said.
This kind of partnership is definitely something new for Capcom, as it only previously worked with an external developer, in the form of Blue Castle Games, on a new series, the Dead Rising one, and quickly bought the studio altogether, turning it into Capcom Vancouver.
“This kind of tie-up was something new for us, so it was kind of a test run for the series,” Kawata said. “North America is the market where tons of major titles are born, and one of the most popular genres there is shooter games. Slant Six Games has established themselves as one of the leading producers of quality shooters, which is why we chose to team up with them. At Capcom we are really eager to soak up new development ideas that will make us competitive in the global market.”
As an interesting tidbit of information, Kawata also said that Slant Six also impressed him with its character design, coming up with things a Japanese developer wouldn’t have thought of.
“For this title Slant Six Games was responsible for the character design, and I was pleasantly surprised with the character designs they gave us. They were unlike anything people at Capcom would normally come up with. One that really struck me was their suggestion to include a bearded, well-built middle-aged man. That's a type of character you hardly see in Japanese games.”
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will be released on March 20, 2012, in North America, and March 23, in Europe, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, while a PC version is scheduled to appear after that.