In an interview after the opening of LightSpeed Japan's new offices, Hideaki Itsuno confirmed that his new project was proposed by him personally and approved by the company without any major revisions. But when asked if he was creating his dream game, he answered in the negative.
"Strictly speaking, no. The games I would most like to make are unlikely to sell. They are too unusual to be considered commercially viable. I understand this very well, so I take individual elements of these ideas and combine them with what, in my experience, works. That's how our new project is being built."
Itsuno adds:
"When I am asked to propose new projects, I usually submit five or six ideas, including two that I really want to do, but they are never chosen."
In his experience, it is unlikely that he will develop these niche ideas in the future.
In 2025, the phrase "passion project" is reminiscent of Too Kyo Games and their The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, which came out exactly as it was conceived. Despite its success, the developers risked debt and bankruptcy. In today's environment, Itsuno's approach — packaging bold ideas into commercially attractive formats — seems reasonable.
