Ninja Theory head wary of AAA retail model, despite following it with DMC

by Ben Gilbert on Sep 6th 2011 5:20PM

"We're putting everything into it, the whole studio is focused on it. It's not 'knock it out because it's safe', we're taking some of our biggest risks on this project, we're doing some of our most creative work on it," Ninja Theory co-founder and "chief creative ninja" Tameem Antoniades told GamesIndustry.biz in a recent interview, when asked about his studio's latest project, Devil May Cry. "In fact, Capcom wouldn't have given it to us if they wanted a straight sequel, they wanted something new," he added.

He noted all of this before he stated that "there's this stranglehold that the AAA retail model has which I think is just crushing innovation and access to creative content." But wait, isn't Antoniades' studio currently hard at work on a reboot of a AAA retail franchise for a major publisher? "We're in this kind of AAA bracket, I guess you could call it ... the barriers to entry for that are so high, so difficult, that we seem to be getting, being offered, decent work in that area," he explained. "It's hard to say no when you've got a team of 100 and you have to keep the payroll going."

So, Antoniades believes that AAA retail games are "crushing innovation and access to creative content," but that his studio is developing a AAA retail game that features "some of our most creative work." Yup.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Tags: dmc-devil-may-cry, microsoft, ninja-theory, playstation, ps3, tameem-antoniades, xbox

Reader Comments (35)

As much as I have loved Ninja Theory's previous games, they aren't really innovators.

Heavenly Swords borrowed a lot of elements from God of War.
Enslaved's gameplay reminded me a lot of Uncharted.

Now I love both those games and I'm not saying they are completely unoriginal, but they weren't exactly innovative.

@phatman516 Came here to say just this. I'm a big fan of Ninja Theory, but I thought the actual gameplay of both Heavenly Sworrd and Enslaved was lacking compared to NT's ambition. What they really excel at is creating characters who you genuinely care about.

I think you're misinterpreting his comment. He's clearly not meaning that the final product is a revolutionary, innovative game. Ninja Theory's cinematic development process is what's innovative. Their blending of hollywood-style production and video game developments is really something that's just emerging this generation, and they were at the forefront with a few other studios.

It reminds me a lot of Oddworld Inhabitants' "art first, game design later" approach, though taken to a much more elaborate scale.

With Ninja Theory, it's the creative process that is innovative, not the end result of that creativity ... that's just a good video game (hopefully).

@(Unverified)
But I already genuinely care about Dante. So...DMC really will suck?

I think it's better read as "Heavenly Sword and Enslaved didn't sell enough for us to make money, because they were expensive to make."

See: DoubleFine. After Brutal Legend they shifted their strategy because of a similar problem.

Let's just hope Ninja Theory has a similar outcome, DoubleFine's done amazing stuff since abandoning AAA retail titles.

@TheCodeNinja

Brutal Legend was a different thing, IMO.

First they had issues getting it out, then when they did.. I dont think many people expected the RTS battle stuff. They expected a straight up hack and slash.

@Faenix
Doesnt change the fact that they were still decent games that simply didnt sell as expected. There's honestly nothing wrong with the games they made much like Brutal Legend. History is filled with games that should have sold better than they did.

The above comments helped me figure out what Ninja Theory was saying: "We're selling out, but only sorta kinda. Don't worry, we're doing our own thing too."

Ninja Theory has made solid games, but I agree with phatman516: not really that original. Not gameplaywise, at least. They seem far more interested in storytelling. And good for them: they seem to be good at it. Heavenly Sword was similar to God of War in many ways, but I did find the story more interesting. God of War's story was merely serviceable (but it was accompanied by some awesome production values, so it still was able to entrance).

new dmc looks like a decent game but surely doesnt deserve to be called a devil may cry game. it abandons everything from the other three games, its like theyre simply using it to milk the name. thats just my two cents.

@Knives Chau That's EVERYONE'S two cents.

@Knives Chau

i like how he said "other THREE", because as we all know DMC2 does not exist

@Epoque
from what ive seen everyone just hates the game period.

@Red Runner
ah my bad i forgot the forth one. that one was pretty boring imo x_x also im a girl dude.

@Red Runner

DMC2? Whats that?

/sarcasm, just sayin

@Knives Chau

I don't blame you for forgetting 2.

Sorry, didn't know you were a girl.

Joystiq is primarily a sausage fest and all!

@Red Runner
DMC2 was that special bonus disk that came with DMC 5th Anniversary collection, right?

I personally love Ninja Theory's games, They are games for gamers and at the same time they tell a great story (in my opinion of course). Granted, DMC is not an original story, i think they are approaching it the right way. Ninja Theory is not the go to people when it comes to mechanical Innovation but when the story is added, i think that's sorta where they shine.

Even though, Heavenly Sward had some great facial motion capturing tech, i think it really helped sell the story rather than enhance the gameplay.

So you guys had two commercial flops and now you're acting all high and mighty about how creative your game is...even though it's basically a slap in the face to fans of the old style of the series.

God, how hypocritical.

They remind me a lot of GRIN with their current position. Oddly enough even, they are both at the mercy of Capcom with rebooting a franchise. Let's hope they don't share the same fate in the end.

@Epoque Except GRIN was great and didn't change characters into self-inserts of their creative art directors.

Most studios that complain about AAA games generally seem poorly managed. They have decent talent but they drop the ball with producing the game (managing costs, time, people's tasks, etc.) and marketing the game. They also like to release their "innovative" B or AA titles during peak season (be it fall or march)

"We'll make a great game but damned if we're going to release it during the year when people are begging for great games. We'll just release it with all the other games and cross our fingers. We'll also release all our games at AAA full price despite being anything but worth price. We'll also drop the price when the damage has been done and blame everyone but ourselves."

That's generally speaking but it also applies to NT at times as well in one form or another.

@Mmmmz

Except that release dates tend to be something that publishers decide, not developers.

So, who's gonna be at the Ninja Theory funeral?

Sorry, why did I say funeral? I meant Another Shitty Developer Goes Down The Tubes party.

@Exu

Are you implying that tons of Andy Sirkis motion-capture isn't all that's required for a game to be totally awesome!? Blasphemy!

@Chareth Cutestory MY... PRECIOUS... SALES...

No what he's saying is that the concept of AAA games forces most developers to only do slight upgrade sequels rather than risking the potential profits by taking a risk on the content. Somtimes Joystiq tries WAY too hard to be sarcastic and misses the whole point.

Ninja Theory has developed a reputation for making decent games and trying even if they havent made hugely successful games, partly because they've been new franchises which dont get as much marketing muscle and backing as the millionseller AAA titles already on the market. So now they've been given a chance to do that with a known franchise.... the problem is the fans WANT it to be a safe sequel because the core of the title is what they love which is why this reboot is getting so much hate.

@PN04

I don't think anyone missed the point he's trying to make. Regardless of the effects of the high-risk investment required for an "AAA" game, he's still making one, and he's still claiming that the one he's making isn't being adversely effected by the need to turn a profit.

Ninja Theory has been trying to get AAA recognition since Heavenly Sword, and they'll probably continue doing so as long as motion capture is the only card up their sleeve. That's the kind of card that doesn't really fit in to a small developer's deck.

If he's really worried about being forced in one direction or another just to live up to the AAA standard, maybe he should be making a game that requires fewer than 100 people on staff.

-Locked at 30fps
-Judging from gameplay seen it's slower than the old games
-Canon has been raped beyond saving

No thanks. I'd be fine if this had a different name but it's trying to live up to the Clover Devil May Cry games and it just won't.

if they keep pushing Tameem Antoniades as dante obviously they will fail.... its not about AAA title or not... but it seems so hard for them to understand that. They tried new IP games and did not very well, screwing dmc and dante wont be the panacea or the solution of their own incapacity.

Ben Gilbert, you REALLY need to learn how to interpret the comments of others. He does believe that AAA games have a tendency to crush innovation, but he is stating that his studio is doing what it can to curb this trend. There's no contradiction there, despite your implying there is.

I kinda feel like the reason Ninja Theory hasn't been very successful in the AAA category is because they made 1 low budget game (Kung Fu Chaos) and their 2 follow up games were such high production. As a studio they should spend more time trying to find their own creativity on the gameplay side and stop worrying so much about motion capture and cinema.

If that was the case they could just go make movies.

Now I'm usually not one to hate on anything before it's released,or even hate something publicly for that matter but you know I just can't help it for this: Boo-urns to this game! Boo-urns I say!

Yeah, gotta agree that making Dante look like yourself is a silly move.

And people like over-the-top, crazy-ass Dante with the smart mouth.

Emo git who sneers and says "My name's Dante" in a dreadful monotone?

No. Just no.

"there's this stranglehold that the AAA retail model has which I think is just crushing innovation and access to creative content."
He isn't saying he's completely original or anything, but BioShock just wanted to say hi.

So he's basically admitting that he thinks the game is going to bomb and lose tons of money?

Somebody please, just take the DMC rights away from Tameem, before he ruins the franchise beyond repair.

DmC: Devil May Cry

Ninja Theory head wary of AAA retail model, despite following it with DMC

Reader Comments (35)

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 5:29PM phatman516 said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 5:50PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:06PM Epoque said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 10:23PM pluupy said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 5:30PM TheCodeNinja said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:33PM Faenix said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 7:08PM PN04 said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 5:44PM sigma8 said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 5:53PM Knives Chau said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:00PM Epoque said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:27PM Red Runner said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:34PM Knives Chau said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:34PM Faenix said

Posted: Sep 7th 2011 1:30AM Red Runner said

Posted: Sep 10th 2011 1:46AM pluupy said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:00PM CleanUndies said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:05PM Red Runner said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:09PM Epoque said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 8:11PM Diet Kane said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:29PM Mmmmz said

Posted: Sep 7th 2011 2:39AM Courtney said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:51PM Exu said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:59PM Chareth Cutestory said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 7:13PM Exu said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 6:58PM PN04 said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 7:10PM Chareth Cutestory said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 7:17PM DeadpooI said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 7:39PM eilegz said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 8:48PM TUROK1134 said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 9:22PM Lerkero said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 9:46PM ProfessorBonkle said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 10:45PM Red Runner said

Posted: Sep 6th 2011 10:55PM mcnichoj said

Posted: Sep 7th 2011 8:01AM DietSoap said

Posted: Sep 8th 2011 7:06AM Hellios said

DmC: Devil May Cry Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is a stranger in a strange land

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW