Mega Man Creator Slams Industry for Chasing Franchises and Trends

Keiji Inafune, the producer behind Capcom titles such as Mega Man, Onimusha and Dead Rising, spoke at the Console Game Developer Conference 2025 in South Korea. The industry veteran dedicated his session to how developers approach their craft in today’s market.

Inafune sharply criticized a growing tendency among publishers to release games that rely solely on a franchise’s name or a genre’s popularity to secure predictable returns. He clarified: “I’m not saying it’s wrong to continue established series or to make games in popular genres. What I mean is that shouldn’t be the only direction for development.” For the industry to thrive, he argued, creators need to have a clear sense of purpose.

According to Inafune, in the 1980s and 1990s trends were scarce and inventing new concepts was commonplace. Even though he contributed to series like Mega Man, moving between different projects helped him build a strong and varied portfolio.

Today the industry is more mature, and drawing on past successes isn’t necessarily bad from a business perspective — but it shouldn’t dominate the creative ecosystem. “The eleventh title in a series, the thirteenth in a franchise… that may matter to fans, but the zeal for creation should not be completely replaced by repetition.”

Source: iXBT.games