How is the studio in Okinawa? A direct hit to Summertime Studio

Fascinated by smartphones and founded a company

Summertime Studios, which just released "Okinawa Guardian" the other day (see the article here), is an up-and-coming development company headquartered in Okinawa. However, it is not the case that the company was headquartered in Okinawa from the beginning. Summertime Studio was originally established in June 2011 in Kudanshita, Tokyo as a game company dedicated to smartphones. After developing several titles, including the smartphone game "Coin Jungle" for GREE, in December 2012 he moved his base to Chatan-cho, Okinawa, and from this year onwards, he said, "We will release our own titles at an astonishing speed." It is said that it is.

As you know, there are app development companies all over the country because of the low threshold for development. Naturally, there seem to be several companies in Okinawa, but Summertime Studio seems to have a particularly strong attachment to the land of Okinawa. ``This looks interesting!'' So the reporter flew to Okinawa, where Summertime Studio is located. In the form of an interview, we asked Mr. Ken Hirotsu, the representative director and producer. I am grateful to Mr. Hirotsu for carefully answering each and every detailed question!

As mentioned earlier, Summertime Studio was established in June 2011. Originally, Mr. Hirotsu, the representative, joined a major home-use game maker after working at domestic online game companies. It is said that he was involved in online business, social game business, smartphone application business, etc. At that time, I felt the potential of smartphones as a device, which led to the establishment of the company. At that time, I met Unity, which was still less well-known than it is now, and realized that "the high feasibility of creating a game and a game company that is close to the ideal by actually proceeding with development", and my thoughts on the establishment of the company. became stronger. Normally in game development, communication tends to be divided between each development department, but with Unity, each member, such as planners, designers, and programmers, understand each other's processes and communicate closely. At the time, I felt it was the greatest attraction of a game engine that could lead to shorter development times, more efficient development, and higher quality.”

Summertime Studio started as a game company specializing in smartphones. That said, there were only two (!) staff members at the time of its establishment, and although there were many twists and turns before things got off the ground, the business seemed to be doing better than expected. Mr. Hirotsu explains, "Thanks to the four clients who persuaded everyone in the company to accept the contract for development at our company, which had just started with a capital of 1 yen and had no credit at all. '' he affirms. “These four companies are all at the forefront of IT and social games. By matching the required development speed, we were able to accumulate the know-how at an overwhelming speed." So, it seems that people-to-people connections are important in any industry.

●Relocated to Okinawa in search of "the best development environment"

Then, a turning point came to Summertime Studio, whose business was on track. Needless to say, the head office functions will be transferred to Okinawa. When I asked Mr. Hirotsu a frank question about this, he said, "Personally, I moved to Okinawa seven years before I established Summertime Studio, and I felt many benefits at that time. (Natural environment, flow of time, culture, etc.) Okinawa was recognized as the best place to base game development in Japan. Regarding the relocation, it was in the plan." In fact, Summertime Studio had established a development studio in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture in January 2012 as a step prior to the relocation of its headquarters. It seems that the move to Okinawa was inevitable. Furthermore, "If it is a branch office, there is a possibility of withdrawing from the office surrounded by the wonderful nature of Okinawa. I want to get rid of the concerns that people have, so I moved the head office to Chatan-cho, Okinawa, as a way of expressing my intention to ``compete on the world stage from here in Okinawa''.

However, was there any dissatisfaction among the staff with the sudden move to Okinawa? In response to this, Mr. Hirotsu said, "Currently, the staff who were hired in Tokyo, including their families, have completed immigration, and all of them are in Okinawa. When we moved from Tokyo to Okinawa, we were actually grinning and saying, "Okinawa!? "Everyone said, 'That's why everyone is still happy (laughs)'." When I asked the slightly nasty question, "Do you ever feel inconvenient?", he replied, "I've never felt anything particularly demerit. Every day, I feel that it is the environment,” Kippari said.

"Located in the middle of Okinawa, there is a large shopping area such as American Village nearby, and if you go naturally, there is also a large beach called Araha Beach. If you drive 5 minutes, there is also a large movie theater. The people coming and going are international, and it's a charming town that makes you forget you're in Japan," says Chatan. Just by looking at Mr. Hirotsu's comments, it's easy to imagine that Chatan-cho would be a wonderful environment, but Summertime Studio's games have started an interesting initiative at the same time as they moved to Okinawa. I started a cafe business. As for the reason, Mr. Hirotsu says, "For the company's cash flow." One of the difficult management points of a game company is cash flow when proceeding with projects with long production periods (=games that require high quality and volume). , As the number of users increases, we are getting more and more consultations for projects that are going to be lengthened little by little.” Nonetheless, it is not possible to allocate the resources of game development, which is the main business, to other businesses. ``We have started a business that will be beneficial to our game development by being directly connected to game development, expanding our knowledge, and expanding the network of creators.'' This is also the reason for moving to Okinawa. It can be said that it is one of the advantages.

● A game that resonates with the world based in Okinawa!

Summer Time Studio, which has moved its headquarters to Okinawa and is actively releasing its own titles, as if the time is ripe. Summertime Studio says, "No matter how difficult the situation is, we are all thinking together and working on game development every day with a smile on our face." Of course, we also place importance on things such as the number of downloads and the number of downloads, but above all, we want to carefully provide games that satisfy the users who have played them, one by one,” says Hirotsu. “Games are extravagant content that includes various elements such as stories, systems, visuals, and sounds. We want to grow as a game company that can be included in content,” he said with high aspirations. What kind of high-quality content will be born from Okinawa Prefecture? I have high hopes for Summertime Studio in the future.

Finally, I introduced Mr. Hirotsu to the overview of "OKINAWA TD", which was just released, and the five titles Summer Time Studio is planning to release. I got it, so I'll send it to you below.

"Okinawa Guardian" Now Available ■Price: 250 yen We wanted to develop a full-fledged tower defense game set in Japan and appeal to it.At that time, we moved to the former Okinawa Ginowan studio, and Okinawa became the stage. And there was a very interesting and unique culture that mixed Asia and Japan, such as the folklore that remains in Okinawa, so this is a game that expresses that."

『BitsBits×DRAGON』 Release Date: Late February 2013 Price: Undecided This is a project that started development with the idea that you can easily enjoy it with one finger.The operation is simple, just tap where you want to attack with one finger.Players can touch the screen. In order to protect the tower in the back, the enemy country's Bits who are approaching from the front of the screen are brilliantly blown away with the power of three dragons. , It's a fake dragon that Bits and others move manually.Looking at the formation of the enemy's troops, if you blow everyone away with one shot, it will become a combo state, and if it continues, there is a fever mode that continues to attack for a certain period of time. And the enemies will also launch weapons called Bits guns, making it a tower defense game that looks cute, but also has flashy and exhilarating effects.”

"AB (provisional title)" Release Date: Late March 2013 Price: Undecided It's an action game where you directly control the arrows you shoot to defeat them.At the end, you'll face off against "Mother," the creator of the mysterious demons.In a vast map where you fight demons, , Enemy orbs that block your path, and treasure chests containing rare bows and arrows are hidden, so you can not only attack demons, but also enjoy running through the air and searching for items. In addition, in terms of graphics, we are also taking on the challenge of rendering the scenery on the surface of the water in real time and making it run comfortably on smartphones, and we are challenging ourselves to improve our technical capabilities in all aspects. (However, it is an option, and it will be a selection formula, but if you go with an actual terminal, it will be iPhone4S or higher or Galaxy S2 or higher).

"OC (provisional title)" release date: 2013 Early March Price: Undecided “In the smartphone game genre, it will be a standard coin game genre. I wanted to stick to the authenticity of the game, so I decided to use the theater where the opera is performed as the stage for the coin game. I think we can show you a new coin game while keeping the simple controls of . , in a certain way, we have also added the production of having you fight directly against the users.”

*The screen is under development. Specifications are subject to change.

"G (provisional title)" Release date: Early April 2013 Price: Undecided "In the forest, a player who gets lost arrives at a mysterious old Western-style building. It's going to be a game.As a game system, it is a stage system, and it will be a game that looks like an FPS from the popular Invader game.There are about 50 types of ghosts that will be the main characters. In addition, there are gimmicks and hidden treasure chests in each stage, so there are plenty of elements to play.”

*The screen is under development. Specifications are subject to change.

* Click here for the official website of Summer Time Studio