Clover veterans establish Seeds

By Tom Bramwell Published 15 February, 2007

Mikami, Inaba etc. up to good.

Former Capcom designers Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba and Hideki Kamiya have emerged at a new Japanese dev studio called Seeds.

With Resident Evil, Viewtiful Joe and Devil May Cry respectively behind them, they're undoubtedly a bit of a dream team, and it sounds like they have been quietly staffing up since August last year, with 51 people already on board according to translations of the company webpage.

Initially outed by NeoGAF and further translated by the Wired game blog, Seeds claim "a renewed spirit" in setting out to "challenge the world of entertainment".

"But to do this, we need many, many more seeds," the website says. "So, we are currently searching far and wide for people who want to work alongside us. For people who want to build their future. People who are currently making games elsewhere.

"Would you like to make some 'preposterously amazing' games with us?" the translation concludes.

We'd love to ourselves, but we're a bit busy. Others, on the other hand, will probably leap at the chance. And in the meantime, it's safe to say that everyone benefits when the likes of Mikami, Inaba and Kamiya get together. Let's hope their output can live up to the memory of games like Okami, whose awesome reception wasn't enough to rescue Clover.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Tonka #1 5 years ago

    \o/

  • Eraser #2 5 years ago

    What was the original reason Clover got shut down? They've created quite a few jewels of games to be honest. Guess they were too much off-beat games that didn't sell well? So much for industry innovation :-/

    edit:
    Oh it's reason is given here: [link url=http://ir.capcom.co.jp/english/news/html/e061012a.html
    ]http://ir .capcom.co.jp/english/news/html...[/link]

    "Clover Studio Co., Ltd. has met the goal of developing unique and creative original home video game software, however, in view of promoting a business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group, the dissolution of Clover Studio Co., Ltd. has been raised and passed at a Board of Directors' meeting."

    I hate, hate that sort of logic.
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/07 @ 09:47

  • mkreku #3 5 years ago

    So.. In 3-4 years we'll see the fruits of these Seeds? Ho hum, I can barely wait..

  • lambtron #4 5 years ago

    "Would you like to make some 'preposterously amazing' games with us?"

    Yep, just don't speak Japanese and I'm pretty sure my girlfriend wouldn't be too happy with me disappearing halfway round the world ;).

    Also I heard hours in the games industry in Japan are insane...

  • Steroyd #5 5 years ago

    THEY LIVE!!!!

  • Dizzy #6 5 years ago

    >Also I heard hours in the games industry in Japan are insane...


    They are.. stay away if you want a life.

  • spongebob #7 5 years ago

    Great news, indeed!!

  • [maven] #8 5 years ago

    P.N.03 #2 please!

  • pinchofsalt #9 5 years ago

    P.N.04 surely?

  • Tonka #10 5 years ago

    Was Clover behind P.N.03?

  • Triggerhappytel #11 5 years ago

    Great news. I'll be looking forward to seeing what they produce (please please buy the rights to Okami off Capcom and make a sequel), I just hope they find a bit more commercial success and manage to stay afloat in today's market. Ultimately Clover shut down because their games did not sell enough; please don't let that be the case here - although Mikami can certainly produce some stunning, huge-selling franchises.

    I wonder if they're linked with any publishers yet? Sony would do well to get in bed with them - God knows they could do with some critically acclaimed new IPs for the PS3.

    EDIT - Tonka, I'm pretty sure P.N.03 was internally developed at one of Capcom's production studios. [EDIT] Capcom's Production Studio 4, according to Wikipedia.
    Edited by 3 at 15/02/07 @ 10:29

  • woodnotes #12 5 years ago

    They're working on a 360 game.

    [link url=http://w ww.seeds-inc.jp/site/staff/ueda.html
    ]http://ww w.seeds-inc.jp/site/staff/ueda....[/link]

    Look at pic of him on left, towards the bottom. A 360 controller in the background!

  • Eraser #13 5 years ago

    Was the original Viewtiful Joe developed by Studio 4?
    Why does it show a big Clover Studio introduction when I boot up the game on my GameCube then?

  • Eraser #14 5 years ago

    "They're working on a 360 game.

    [link url=http://ww w.seeds-inc.jp/site/staff/ueda....
    ]http://ww w.seeds-inc.jp/site/staff/ueda....[/link]

    Look at pic of him on left, towards the bottom. A 360 controller in the background!    "

    Which, to be honest, doesn't mean they're developing for 360. I'm not saying they aren't, but having an XBox360 around doesn't (by that fact alone) mean they're actually developing for it. Chances are that big or promising studio's get a dev kit from MS just to let them see what they're up to and make a platform choice based on technical possiblities.

  • Golgo #15 5 years ago

    With Shinji Mikami gone, who`s taking care of Resi 5 back at Capcom?

  • IAmBatman #16 5 years ago

    > I hate, hate that sort of logic.

    The logic that a business should make more money than it costs to run?

  • UncleLou #17 5 years ago

    So.. In 3-4 years we'll see the fruits of these Seeds? Ho hum, I can barely wait..

    So what you're saying is they shouldn't have formed a new studio at all, or that the story wasn't newsworthy? Or did I read sarcasm into your post that wasn't really there? :)

  • Kon #18 5 years ago

    "-That's great news general!"

  • Triggerhappytel #19 5 years ago

    Eraser - "Was the original Viewtiful Joe developed by Studio 4?
    Why does it show a big Clover Studio introduction when I boot up the game on my GameCube then?

    No, VJ was the first of only four games from Clover. Clover were formed from Studio 4; I don't think they were completely owned by Capcom, but the Japanese giant was the major shareholder. The name Clover came from a combination of the words creative and lover (as in, lover of games), and the four leaves were also something of a nod to their former development team in Studio 4.

    I know all this because I read an interview with Inaba in Edge about three years ago.

  • ilmaestro #20 5 years ago

    An EG news article actually citing its sources? Now I've seen everything!

  • teamonkey #21 5 years ago

    @Eraser: That's management speak for "consistently well over-budget and unable to meet deadlines."

    Not that that's unusual for the industry, or that keeping going until a game is fully completed and polished is a bad thing, but if you're fronting a shedload of cash it would make you nervous too.

  • Mageme #22 5 years ago

    What a great name... Seeds. Nice!

  • sanctusmortis #23 5 years ago

    If it means more great games on more formats, superb.

    If there's one set of people I would entrust great 3rd party Wii games to, it's these guys.

  • Hughes. #24 5 years ago

    Delicious news.

    I'd much rather see what talent like this can get out of the new machines than the usual FPS/Race 'em up suspects.

  • kangarootoo #25 5 years ago

    I can see a 360 and a Wii from where I sit, but I'm not working on either. Sometimes its just useful for game research purposes to have them around.

    I think Clover closed because the stuff they were making just didn't sell that well. A sad story but not uncommon.

  • Daikon #26 5 years ago

    Too bad Capcom didn't choose to dissolve its marketing department instead of Clover.

  • Calgon #27 5 years ago

    :D I can see some people soooo dont want this dev team to end up with a close relationship with MS(like mistwalker).

    Personally I couldnt care less if they are working on a 360 game or not even though 360 and Wii are better choices for smaller dev teams(PS3 is too expensive for most and when you have to struggle to get good performance out of the hardware its going to hinder creative talent compared to developing on other platforms). If they do make a 360 game and its good then I will probably buy it, more good games is always a plus, but 360 has plenty in the pipeline for me(infact by looks of it more than any console I can remember) so I wouldn't be bitter if they went back to Sony(neither are unlikely possibilities). Who knows what they are up to? Sounds like they will need some time to get enough devs onboard and then time to settle before they are back to the standard people have come to expect from them.
    Edited by 1 at 15/02/07 @ 16:33

  • dominalien #28 5 years ago

    "Also I heard hours in the games industry in Japan are insane..."

    Not just in Japan, though. Maybe they'remore brutal over there, but they border on insanity here as well.

  • kangarootoo #29 5 years ago

    Not everywhere they aren't.

    The assumption that hours are bad throughout the industry is part of what allows that situation to exist. If everyone thinks all companies are work houses, they have no insentive to find another job if they feel they are being taken advantage of. Its not the same everywhere, we all have a choice.

  • smelly #30 5 years ago

    >>Also I heard hours in the games industry in Japan are insane...


    So no different to the uk/us games industry then...

  • dominalien #31 5 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    which company do you work for? because I sure have to stay at work long hours.

    (it was a rhetorical question, I'm not expecting you to say on a public forum which company you work for ;-))

  • kangarootoo #32 5 years ago

    Hehe, I was just about to say "I'd prefer not to say", and then I read your closing comment.

    I've been at a few companies over the last few years, but I've proably not done more than a coupe of months heavy crunch in that time, so its not like I found the ONLY company in the country that doesn't burn people every day.

  • captain-future #33 5 years ago

    Viewtiful Joe's Atsushi Inaba, Resident Evil's Shinji Mikami and Devil May Cry's Hideki Kamiya ... smells like a cel-shaded survival horror action-title coming.

    YEAH!!!

  • ~magicool~ #34 5 years ago

    WHY HAVE MY POSTS BEEN FUCKING DELETED ON THE MAIN FORUMS!!! I CANT EVEN SEE MY OWN POSTS! I HAVE BEEN HERE JUST 2 FUCKING WEEKS, WITH ZERO ABUSE! I HAVE SENT EMAILS TO YOU EUROGAMER, BUT HAVE NOT RECEIVED A REPLY. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON, WILL YOU PLEASE SORT IT.

  • lambtron #35 5 years ago

    >>Also I heard hours in the games industry in Japan are insane...


    So no different to the uk/us games industry then...

    Well yes actually it is different. I've worked at several places in both US and Europe but nowhere have the hours that Japan seems to have - we were in touch with a Japanese team recently and we received emails from them pretty much round the clock. Plus I also heard from someone who used to work over there that on top of silly hours you were expected to go out drinking after work with your boss.