EA Seeks More Japanese-Developed Games

EA Partners exec David DeMartini's hinting that the company is planning to work with additional Japanese developers, following the news that it will publish new titles from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and No More Heroes producer Goichi "Suda51" Suda. Speaking to consumer website MTV Multiplayer, DeMartini said, "Hopefully this will serve as a springboard to a successful formula that we can apply to some of the other great Japanese designers." DeMartini indicated that he is constantly looking at the "top 20 developers in the world" and actively seeking development deals with those that EA has not worked with previously. When pressed on whether Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima might be amongst them, DeMartini replied, "It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess who might be on the board or who might not be on the board with regards to great organizations that are out there that don’t currently have relationships with EA. EA looks at the top 20 developers in the world, and we try to sign anything those guys are working on." "If Suda or Mikami were to be publishing with Sony or Nintendo, it would be another one of the great Japanese designers who are working with a Japanese company," added DeMartini. "It’s not as much of a unique story. However, if EA was to work with some of the best designers in Japan in a limited way, with a limited number of these partners, we would be creating a unique situation where some of the best developers in Japan are actually partnering with one of the largest publishers that are not Japanese. That would represent something that is slightly uncomfortable for both parties, but also represents something that is very unique and very special."