Ace Attorney dev suggests it may never have become a series these days because the first game was a ‘failure’
Masakazu Sugimori agreed with a post saying new IPs now struggle to get off the ground
A former Capcom developer who worked on the first Ace Attorney game has suggested it may never have become a series if it had been released these days, because new IPs don’t get a chance to evolve if the first game is a “failure”.
Masakazu Sugimori, who composed the soundtrack for the first Ace Attorney and voiced Manfred von Karma in the Japanese version, was replying to a post on X from Bandai producer Taira Nakamura.
Nakamura’s post suggested that it’s harder to start a new IP these days because if it isn’t an immediate success it’s written off as a failure and isn’t given a chance to evolve over multiple games.
“With development costs rising, creating a new IP is tougher than ever,” Nakamura wrote (as translated by Automaton). “Popular IPs usually grow gradually over time, as a series progresses.
“Pokémon and Monster Hunter didn’t become hits overnight. They’ve grown into what they are through multiple entries. That’s why you don’t often see a brand-new title suddenly selling like crazy, on the same level as these long-running franchises.”
Nakamura added that even if a studio does manage to release a new IP that’s loved by players, that’s still no guarantee of success due to the increase in game development costs, meaning some critically-acclaimed titles can still be denied a chance of a sequel.
“That project gets labelled a ‘failure’, and despite being a hit it never gets a sequel and never gets a chance to grow as an IP,” he wrote. “But IPs are something you nurture. It’s important to think of the long-term, not just the performance of the first release.”
Sugimori responded to Nakamura’s post by saying he agreed with his claim that new IPs struggle to get started these days, citing the first Ace Attorney as an example of a game that was a failure back in the day but was given a chance to succeed.
本当に同感。
何故なら逆転裁判も僕が関わった1の時点では「失敗」だから。当時バイオやデビルが初週100万本で300万本突破！とかしてた時代に、
確かGBAの逆転裁判は初週7～8万本程度なんですよね。
ペイライン突破はしてるはずですけど、まぁ「売れなかったね」という評価でした💦… https://t.co/OZD3Xvdsa0— 杉森 雅和 (Masakazu Sugimori) (@m_sugimori) April 25, 2025
“I totally agree,” he wrote (via Google translation). “That’s because Ace Attorney was a failure when I was involved with the first one. At the time, Biohazard and Devil May Cry were selling 1 million copies in the first week and surpassing 3 million copies – I believe the GBA version of Ace Attorney sold around 70,000 to 80,000 copies in its first week.”
Sugimori said that although he believed the game did break even, the consensus at Capcom was that “it didn’t sell well”, but he notes that creator Shu Takumi “didn’t give up”.
“They continued making the series up to the third instalment, and public acclaim for it rose dramatically,” he said. “Then, it was made into a movie, a stage play, and an anime, and its popularity continued to grow.”
Sugimori concluded that, in his eyes, Ace Attorney is an IP that Capcom “nurtured” and eventually became a success thanks to the hard work of Takumi and Capcom.
A total of 11 Ace Attorney games and spin-offs have been released since the series debuted in 2001. 10 of these are playable on modern systems thanks to four compilations. The only one not playable on modern platforms is Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, a crossover with Level-5.
