Alright, so I was reading this thing about Hideo Kojima—you know, the dude behind some of the most mind-bending games ever. Anyway – wait, let me start over. Kojima was chatting at some press gig, and I couldn’t help but notice how he talked about team sizes. Weird thing to focus on maybe, but it stuck with me.
So, he was praising this game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Apparently, it was whipped up by a smaller team—like, 30 people. Sounds cozy, right? But here’s the kicker: hundreds of other folks from who-knows-where chipped in too. Outsourcing and all that. I guess you have to these days, huh?
Kojima was, like, “Back in my day, we were a tiny squad of six.” Barely enough to fill a minivan. And it seems like he misses those times. Why? Because you could, I dunno, really have a handle on things. Now? Good luck keeping track of what everyone else is doing. Delegate this, delegate that. A mess, if you ask me.
Then he circled back—classic move—bringing up the Sandfall team. 33 peeps and a dog (yeah, no clue what the dog’s doing). Sounds like his dream setup. Wonder if the dog gets a say in creative decisions? Anyway, the guy’s fascinated with this idea of creating a big, flashy game but keeping the team tight-knit. Like, how do you keep it small and still blow everyone’s socks off? Tricky balance, I imagine.
Honestly, it made me think. Maybe that’s why some games have that special something—they aren’t just machine churn-outs. Who knows. Anyway, Kojima seems to have it all figured out, or at least, he’s trying to—and that’s worth a thought or two, right?
