Director of Visions of Mana founded Sasanqua studio to protect developers by avoiding common management mistakes
Kenji Ozawa, co-director of Visions of Mana, has announced the creation of a new studio, Studio Sasanqua. The main goal of the studio is to provide security and support for creators in game development, avoiding common management mistakes.
Here's What We Know
Studio Sasanqua was founded after the closure of Ouka Studios, where Ozawa worked on Visions of Mana. The closure was a result of NetEase and Tencent's reduced investments in Japanese studios. In his interview, Ozawa explained that his decision to create his own studio was motivated by a desire to change the approach to management in the gaming industry.
"I've seen many cases where management made bad decisions, but the responsibility for this fell on developers who lost their jobs," Ozawa said. He stressed that management should protect creators by providing them with motivation and stability.
Studio Sasanqua integrates management and development into a single process. Ozawa said he was ready to take personal responsibility for any project failures due to management decisions.
Studio Sasanqua's first project will be small-scale and developed on Unreal Engine. In the future, the studio plans to move on to creating larger games for PC and consoles. In addition, Studio Sasanqua will cooperate with other companies to develop external IP.
Visions of Mana received positive reviews from critics but did not meet expectations commercially, which was one of the reasons for the closure of Ouka Studios. Now Ozawa is looking to create a studio that will be an example of responsible management and support for creative teams.
Source: Automaton
