NetEase opens new studio GPTRACK50 led by former Resident Evil and DMC producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi
Hiroyuki Kobayashi, games industry veteran and former Capcom producer, has joined GPTRACK50. It is the new NetEase-established studio, which will develop original IPs for global audiences.
What happened?
- In a message on the GPTRACK50 website, Kobayashi said the studio will focus on “creating new content, innovative gaming experiences and original IP.”
- This means the team will not only produce video games, but also work with other forms of media, including animation, live-action movies, and books.
- Kobayashi joined NetEase in August after working at Capcom for 27 years. It looks like the Chinese tech giant offered him full creative freedom.
- In an interview with IGN, Kobayashi said he will stick to making action games given his background and previous projects.
- “Mixing my expertise up with things that my new position at NetEase allows me to do should make for an interesting action game,” he noted. “While NetEase is known for mobile games and online gaming, I do have to say that I want to continue developing for the console and PC market.”
Who is Hiroyuki Kobayashi?
Kobayashi joined Capcom in 1995. He started his gamedev journey as a programmer on the first Resident Evil. He also worked on the game’s sequel and the first Dino Crisis.
“Capcom had a very different image back then,” Kobayashi told IGN. “Today, Resident Evil might be a flagship franchise, but then it was still the company of Street Fighter and Mega Man. Compared to those, Resident Evil kind of looked like a Western game and felt like a rare type of action-adventure game.”
After that, Kobayashi produced Dino Crisis 2-3, Devil May Cry 1 and 4, as well as titles like killer7, Dragon’s Dogma, Sangoku Basara, and Mega Man 11.
