A former Capcom developer who labored on the primary Ace Legal professional sport has prompt it might by no means have develop into a sequence if it had been launched lately, as a result of new IPs don’t get an opportunity to evolve if the primary sport is a “failure”.
Masakazu Sugimori, who composed the soundtrack for the primary Ace Legal professional and voiced Manfred von Karma within the Japanese model, was replying to a publish on X from Bandai producer Taira Nakamura.
Nakamura’s publish prompt that it’s tougher to begin a brand new IP lately as a result of if it isn’t a right away success it’s written off as a failure and isn’t given an opportunity to evolve over a number of video games.
“With improvement prices rising, creating a brand new IP is more durable than ever,” Nakamura wrote (as translated by Automaton). “Common IPs normally develop regularly over time, as a sequence progresses.
“Pokémon and Monster Hunter didn’t develop into hits in a single day. They’ve grown into what they’re via a number of entries. That’s why you don’t usually see a brand-new title abruptly promoting like loopy, on the identical degree as these long-running franchises.”
Nakamura added that even when a studio does handle to launch a brand new IP that’s liked by gamers, that’s nonetheless no assure of success because of the improve in sport improvement prices, which means some critically-acclaimed titles can nonetheless be denied an opportunity of a sequel.
“That challenge will get labelled a ‘failure’, and regardless of being a success it by no means will get a sequel and by no means will get an opportunity to develop as an IP,” he wrote. “However IPs are one thing you nurture. It’s necessary to think about the long-term, not simply the efficiency of the primary launch.”
Sugimori responded to Nakamura’s publish by saying he agreed together with his declare that new IPs wrestle to get began lately, citing the primary Ace Legal professional for instance of a sport that was a failure again within the day however was given an opportunity to succeed.
本当に同感。
何故なら逆転裁判も僕が関わった1の時点では「失敗」だから。当時バイオやデビルが初週100万本で300万本突破！とかしてた時代に、
確かGBAの逆転裁判は初週7～8万本程度なんですよね。
ペイライン突破はしてるはずですけど、まぁ「売れなかったね」という評価でした💦… https://t.co/OZD3Xvdsa0
— 杉森 雅和 (Masakazu Sugimori) (@m_sugimori) April 25, 2025
“I completely agree,” he wrote (by way of Google translation). “That’s as a result of Ace Legal professional was a failure once I was concerned with the primary one. On the time, Biohazard and Satan Could Cry have been promoting 1 million copies within the first week and surpassing 3 million copies – I imagine the GBA model of Ace Legal professional bought round 70,000 to 80,000 copies in its first week.”
Sugimori mentioned that though he believed the sport did break even, the consensus at Capcom was that “it didn’t promote effectively”, however he notes that creator Shu Takumi “didn’t surrender”.
“They continued making the sequence as much as the third instalment, and public popularity of it rose dramatically,” he mentioned. “Then, it was made right into a film, a stage play, and an anime, and its recognition continued to develop.”
Sugimori concluded that, in his eyes, Ace Legal professional is an IP that Capcom “nurtured” and ultimately turned successful because of the laborious work of Takumi and Capcom.
A complete of 11 Ace Legal professional video games and spin-offs have been launched because the sequence debuted in 2001. 10 of those are playable on trendy methods because of 4 compilations. The one one not playable on trendy platforms is Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, a crossover with Stage-5.
