Former PlayStation chief Shuhei Yoshida is dedicating his post Sony career to backing independent game creators across the globe. Speaking in an interview with GamerBraves at the Busan Indie Connect Festival, the veteran producer shared his perspective on the changing realities of game production. He believes smaller teams are now providing the creative spark that massive publishers can no longer afford to risk.
Stepping away from his executive role at PlayStation did not mean walking away from development. Yoshida currently acts as an advisor to 2 publishers and 2 independent studios, all led by longtime industry colleagues. On the publishing side, he works with Kepler Interactive, the company behind Clair Obscur Expedition 33, and FICTIONS, a new label established by former Annapurna Interactive staff. His developer advisory roles include Enhance Games, run by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and Bokeh Game Studio, founded by Keiichiro Toyama.
They used to work for me, so when I left PlayStation, they asked me to become an advisor.
His connection to Clair Obscur Expedition 33 stands out because of his past work producing The Legend of Dragoon. When Yoshida saw an early demo 3 years ago at GDC, he recognized that the team was modernizing classic combat systems from older Japanese role playing games. He gave the developers a specific piece of marketing advice that helped shape how the project was presented to the public.
I advised them that if they described the game as a turn based JRPG, they might lose the interest of many consumers. I suggested that they come up with a new name for the combat system.
That recommendation led to the term Reactive Turn Based RPG. Following the commercial success of the game, Yoshida pointed out that publishers are now actively hunting for similar pitches, reversing years of industry skepticism toward turn based mechanics.
Game creation is becoming accessible to far more people than ever before. Yoshida highlighted that modern development engines like Unreal and Unity, combined with emerging AI tools, allow creators with non technical backgrounds to build complete projects. He cited a designer friend who now writes entire game programs using AI assistance, aiming to complete 1 project every year.
This surge in accessibility brings severe competition. With thousands of titles launching on Steam every year, standing out in a crowded digital marketplace is getting harder for small teams.
For anyone who wants to make money by developing games, we will see even tougher competition going forward. As a fan of games, I am very excited about the future and seeing so many interesting games come out. But from a developer standpoint, it is going to be a really tough future.
Addressing the broader consumer shift away from physical media, Yoshida noted that his own gaming habits are entirely digital. He explained that physical game discs already function primarily as license keys that require day 1 patches and continuous data updates, reducing the practical difference between physical and digital formats.
Even with physical disc games, in most cases, developers are constantly updating and adding game data anyway. Anyone who chooses to purchase a physical version will still need to download new patches, DLC, or updates. So, not having a disc, I do not understand if it is such a big issue.
He acknowledged that collectors still appreciate shelf boxes, suggesting that future special editions could simply include download vouchers instead of stamped discs. For budget conscious players who rely on buying and trading second hand copies, he pointed out that seasonal store discounts across Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo continue to provide affordable entry points throughout the year.
Yoshida closed his discussion by emphasizing the explosion of creative talent across Asian indie scenes. In Japan, long running events like BitSummit are being complemented by fast growing grass roots gatherings such as Tokyo Game Dungeon, a four times a year event that lets students and seasoned professionals show games side by side on a first come first served registration basis.
The number of indie games coming out of Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan is increasing, and their quality is getting better. So, it is really, really fun to visit these indie focused events across Asia.
He highlighted regional showcases like Busan Indie Connect in Korea, WePlay in Shanghai, and both the Taipei Game Show and G EIGHT in Taiwan as proof that the epicenter of creative experimentation has firmly shifted toward independent developers.
