After some years in which many considered that the Mega Man series was dead and the Blue Bomber would only remain as a memory of the industry, Capcom surprised everyone and taking advantage of the 30th anniversary of the series they announced a new game, Mega Man 11. But what is the plan for the franchise? Members of the development team of the new installment spoke about the future of the series.
In a question and answer session conducted by GameInformer, the development team of Mega Man 11 spoke about the future of the series and although they assured that the efforts are concentrated in the new title, they expect it to be a resurrection of the franchise.
From start Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, producer of Mega Man 11, was questioned about the time that passed after the release of Mega Man 10, which debuted in 2010, and the environment surrounding the series; his response was: “To be honest with you, when Inafune left it was a difficult atmosphere within the company. I really want to work on Mega Man.’ Inafune-san was definitely a brand leader for the franchise. He helped pave the way for its success, and he had a lot of brilliant ideas. That’s an absolute truth. So when he left, there was a sense of emptiness, and a sense that no one was appropriate to pick up the mantle and pave a new vision for Mega Man.”
On the other hand, Koji Oda, director of Mega Man 11, was approached about the importance that the series has for Capcom and if it has the relevance of others, such as Resident Evil or Monster Hunter: “I still feel like Mega Man is one of the important pillars of the company. At the end of the day, we asked ourselves, ‘What does Capcom need to do for its fans? Should we act like Mega Man is a thing of the past? Should we toss him aside?’ I felt like that would be a foolish gesture. Inafune-san was a very important component to making Mega Man a success, but Mega Man is such a treasure to the company that it would be a waste to let him go because someone left.”
Regarding the future of the franchise, Kazuhiro Tsuchiya said that they took seriously the project of Mega Man 11 from the beginning and their goal is to use all their skills and experience so that the title is the resurrection of the franchise: “This is definitely not just a trial balloon, we’re definitely not experimenting. We don’t even have the bandwidth to experiment. This is all about pouring everything we have and everything we know into one project and making it happen. We’re using our prior experience and knowledge to strengthen ourselves and reach the next level. From the start of the project I’ve been saying, ‘Mega Man 11 needs to be a true resurrection of the franchise.’ I really want this title to be something that veterans can pick up and say, ‘Yes, Mega Man is finally back.’”
Mega Man 11 will release on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC in late 2018. What do you think about the statements of the developers of Mega Man 11? Tell us in the comments below.
