Famed game producer and co-designer of Mega Man, Keiji Inafune, fled Capcom earlier this year to pursue his own goals. At a press conference this week, the man announced his first project with his new studio Comcept. It’s called The Island of Dr. Momo, and it’s a social game because, duh, that’s what all the hip designers who rag on their huge publishers for being complacent do once they jump screaming from the ship.
Details are light on Dr. Momo at the moment, but we do know that it’s centered on a man named Dr. Momo. He’s a lover of ‘cute’ stuff and you’ll somehow help him on a quest to gather the cutest animals on Earth to make something… cute.
(This is not Dr. Momo, FYI.)
Dr. Momo will be released in Japan via GREE, which is yet another Japanese mobile games service that offers free games in vast quantities and makes its revenue through IAP options like, say, clothing or bonus perks. Think Mobage, as it’s a pretty good analogue.
At the press conference, Inafune didn’t say if the game was bound for a worldwide release. I wouldn’t hold my breath on that, though.
Social games won’t be the only thing Inafune has to offer the world going forward, but it seems like a big part of what he wants to do in the near future. In a conversation with Kotaku earlier this summer he said that he wants to learn from this genre and push a few titles out quickly. After he feels fulfilled, though, who knows?
