Dear Reader:

You are viewing a story from GN Version 5.0. Time may not have been kind to formatting, integrity of links, images, information, etc.

Yuji Naka says Balan Wonderworld is the result of Square-Enix giving him "one chance" to make a 3D platformer

Will it find success?
by rawmeatcowboy
27 September 2020
GN Version 5.0

Balan Wonderworld is quite the oddity in today's day and age. 3D platformers used to be the bread-and-butter of the game industry back in the late 90s, but publishers shifted away from them years ago. The genre still has millions of fans, but new games in that style are few and far between. Seeing a major third party greenlight a 3D platformer in today's industry, outside of Nintendo, is pretty much unheard of.

As you may know, Square-Enix bucked that industry trend by announcing Balan Wonderworld. It's pretty interesting to see such a big third party give a 3D platformer the go-ahead, especially one like Square-Enix. The company is known for RPGs, yet they're allowing developer Yuji Naka to create his dream project.

Naka is pretty happy about that, as he shares in an interview with IGN. Naka knows a thing or two about platformers, and he also doesn't think he'd be a good fit for RPG creation.

"I think Square Enix has an RPG image, but I don't think I'd be good at making RPGs."

How on earth did Naka convince Square-Enix to pony up for a 3D platformer? Naka spoke to the company's president about his idea, and the president told him that this is his "one chance" to make the game happen. In other words, if Balan Wonderworld isn't a success, you can expect the IP to be one-and-done.

[Link]