Preferred Networks is currently developing “Omega Crafter”. This is an ambitious work that incorporates programming elements into the elements of a classic craft survival game. What’s interesting is that this work is not being developed by a game maker, but by the AI venture company Preferred Networks.
Preferred Networks is one of the few machine learning venture companies in Japan. It is an up-and-coming venture company that uses deep learning as its weapon, attracts talented people from all over Japan, and has received large amounts of investment from various companies. Those who know about Preferred Networks may have been surprised to hear that they are making a craft survival game that is all about craftsmanship. What is even more interesting is that this work does not make full use of deep learning.
Why was “Omega Crafter” born? And are Preferred Networks’ upper management OK with “games without machine learning”? We asked him about the roots of his work and other topics.
What is AI venture Preferred Networks?
──Please introduce yourself.
Mr. Masaaki Fukuda (hereinafter referred to as Fukuda):
My name is Masaaki Fukuda. Currently, he is VP of business strategy and company-wide strategy at Preferred Networks (PFN), where he oversees new consumer businesses including Omega Crafter. thank you.
──Could you tell us about your background so far?
Mr. Fukuda:
When I was younger, I originally worked at Sony and was assigned to the device department, but then joined the PlayStation team when the PlayStation 3 was launched. From there, I was responsible for developing game consoles, peripherals, middleware, and the PlayStation Network.
After that, when social network services such as Twitter and Facebook, so-called SNS, became popular worldwide, I wanted to be involved in SNS-related business, so I changed jobs to GREE. There, I was responsible for all planning, development, operation, and production of social games. After about 10 years of experience in the game industry, I changed jobs to Preferred Infrastructure, the predecessor of the current PFN, and am now where I am today.
──Thank you very much.
Mr. Takuya Sato (hereinafter referred to as Sato):
My name is Takuya Sato. At PFN, I am a product manager and engineering manager for the Omega Crafter team.
I’m an engineer, but with “Omega Crafter” I’m doing more than just that, I’m also involved in a wide range of other roles, including production, direction, and project management. Thank you for your cooperation today.
–So Mr. Fukuda is more oriented toward management, and Mr. Sato is more oriented toward the field. Could you please reintroduce what kind of company PFN is?
Mr. Fukuda:
PFN has been focusing on AI and deep learning technologies from a fairly early stage, so I think people around the world perceive us as a company that is strong in AI technology. In terms of business, I develop solutions for BtoB and conduct research and development related to AI. One major difference from other companies is that in addition to developing semiconductors for AI, although we are a start-up company, we own computer resources for AI that are quite large in Japan. Masu.
We are developing our business as a company that can handle everything related to AI, including infrastructure, solutions, and applications. We work in a wide range of fields, from manufacturing to plant automation, new material exploration, medical care, and drug discovery. What Sato and I are in charge of is B2C, and we are creating a business using our new technology in the fields of entertainment and education.
Why PFN makes games
──Thank you very much. When I asked you, the mainstay of your current business is BtoB, but why did you decide to develop PC games?
Mr. Fukuda:
Nowadays, computers are being distributed to elementary and junior high school students, and programming education is becoming compulsory. At our company, we have many people who like programming and are good at it, and we believe that these people have the idea of correctly passing on what they have learned to the next generation. That’s how our programming education business started. Currently, we are developing a business with the Motivation Switch Group in the form of individual instruction rather than public education, and that has turned into an educational product called “Playgram.”
Playgram
Through “Playgram,” people with experience in game development, including myself and Sato, gathered together, and we hope to provide products made for children to more people and convey the joy of programming to the world. The project I started thinking about became “Omega Crafter.”
──You mentioned that “Playgram” was the predecessor of “Omega Crafter”, but how many elements of “Playgram” remain in “Omega Crafter”?
Mr. Sato:
The survival craft game is almost entirely new, bringing only the foundation of the programming elements introduced in this work. Omega Crafter has a UI that allows you to program using blocks, but most of that part is pulled directly from Playgram. It looks like the visual programming language “Scratch”.
However, regarding the blocks used there, the objects that are manipulated in “Playgram” and “Omega Crafter” are slightly different, so I created a new one in “Omega Crafter”.
──Thank you very much. Only the in-game program elements are inherited. I think that when developing a game, you have to think about the profit structure from the planning stage, so I think it was different from PFN’s previous products. In other words, the level of difficulty is high. When the company decided to make Omega Crafter, did they immediately release Go?
Mr. Fukuda:
Actually, there were some parts that were a little difficult. Unlike a typical game company, we didn’t have as many resources devoted to development as we did, and we were able to proceed within a very limited set of circumstances.
However, I don’t think it’s possible to make something fun without spending money or manpower. At the beginning of the project, we wanted to create something new that would properly convey the joy of programming. Sato’s team suggested that we develop it further and make it into a survival craft game, so we wanted to take it to the point where we could release the game so that users could enjoy it even more. .
Also, in the early stages, we said that it might be a little too difficult (lol).When compared to normal survival craft games, the range of play is expanded by making full use of programming. I understand, but to be honest, I was worried about how many users would find it interesting.
–At the planning stage, it seemed like it would be okay to start up small and as long as everyone worked hard. Is the scale still the same?
Mr. Sato:
Both Fukuda and I have worked at another game development company, but I think it will be judged that our company remains small compared to that. In the previous interview (related article), we talked about the development team being about 6 people, but I feel like the scale of a game called “Omega Crafter” is a bit large for a game with 6 people to develop.
Internal position of a unique game team
──Thank you very much. What is the position of the “Omega Crafter” team within the company, which is primarily involved in game development and is a company that primarily handles business for BtoB? I thought they were seen as unusual because their coat color was a little different.
Mr. Sato:
My feeling is that our employees are kind and easy to work with. Basically, there are many people who support us.
Mr. Fukuda:
In terms of how we are accepted within the company, although the “Omega Crafter” team has a star job of developing games, we are not viewed coldly as if we are doing what we love. I think it’s clear within the company that we’re a small team and we’re working really hard.
──When I talked about it in the interview, I felt that everyone on the team had a sense of mission toward the project, or rather, a sense of individual responsibility to run the project.
Mr. Fukuda:
Sato is very good at leading things, but there is a large amount of work that has to be done with a limited number of people, so each member of the team has to do his or her own work. I think that means that they are doing their best to do what they need to do.
Mr. Sato:
Regarding the sense of mission, I think it has something to do with the company culture. At our company, we are expected to do whatever we think is necessary, even if it’s not our specialty, so I think this kind of environment also motivates everyone to do it proactively.
Mr. Fukuda:
Many of our other businesses are in new fields, so I think a big reason is that we are required to constantly think.
──The staff at PFN each have their own specialties, and I thought it was a place where people with individual skills would gather, so it was a little surprising that each member had the attitude of doing everything and working together. was.
Mr. Fukuda:
In fact, it is not true that a business can be built on expertise alone. I believe that in order to create new value in new fields, we need to tackle a variety of things. Of course, it’s best to be able to demonstrate value through your own expertise, but at the start-up stage, each person needs to make their own efforts.
Even though it originates from PFN, AI is not used much, is that a good thing?
──Thank you very much. By the way, I feel that “Omega Crafter” is a bit different in the context of a product released by PFN, which deals with AI and deep learning (lol), because although there are programming elements in the work, in the end it is I feel like machine learning doesn’t really have anything to do with it. May I ask if this is OK in terms of the company’s identity, or was there actually a time when they tried to use AI in games?
Mr. Fukuda:
(Laughs) At least I don’t think it’s a problem. The Omega Crafter project doesn’t end when it’s released, and of course we’re thinking about a bigger story. While conducting research and development of cutting-edge technology, we would like to provide new entertainment and experiences that connect with users.
I think there is a possibility that PFN’s AI technology and Omega Crafter will be connected somewhere in the future, and I hope users are looking forward to it. I have high expectations for Mr. Sato, including that aspect (lol)
──Do you feel anxious or anxious about not having to incorporate AI elements in the field?
Mr. Sato:
So far, the company has not requested elements that use AI technology. For now, I want to make “Omega Crafter” an extremely interesting game.
As we developed Omega Crafter, we accumulated a lot of ideas about ideas that could be expressed better and work could be made more efficient by using AI technology. I often talk to other teams that are working on AI-based entertainment and think about how we can create new products. We are closely communicating with other teams about the accumulation of such technology, so we hope to use Omega Crafter to create various products in the future.
──Thank you very much. I think the game business is often thought of in terms of two choices: either it’s a hit or it’s not. PFN is not like that, and will use the experience and technology of “Omega Crafter” as an asset.
Mr. Fukuda:
Nowadays, we are a challenger in terms of game development, so we are concentrating on making good games and making sure that people around the world can use our technology. On the other hand, there are also stories about the next interesting business, so I have high hopes for “Omega Crafter” in terms of connections with that field.
PFN-ness in “Omega Crafter”
──This work doesn’t use much AI or machine learning, but in that context, are there any PFN characteristics that can be seen in the “Omega Crafter” project?
Mr. Fukuda:
Speaking of PFN’s characteristics…well, the Omega Crafter team has no director or producer, and is made entirely in-house by engineers. I don’t think this method is unusual, but I think the key to Omega Crafter is that it’s all about things that are fun for engineers to think about, such as efficiency and automation. For better or worse, I think what makes PFN unique is that the opinions of the engineers are reflected and the fun that the engineers create is what makes it so unique.
This is a small tidbit, but when the GIGA School concept started, we conducted a survey asking PFN employees why they started programming. 34% said it was in their school’s computer club or middle and high school classes. 21% of people said they started learning to make games, so I wonder if this background has something to do with it.
──So making games was a secret ambition of the entire company, right?
Mr. Fukuda:
I agree. There are people who love computers and programming who want to make games, so we have a lot of support. When the beta version comes out, everyone will play it.
──From your perspective, Mr. Sato, what do you think is the uniqueness of PFN in the “Omega Crafter” project?
Mr. Sato:
That’s a difficult question (lol) There are many people at our company who like automation and efficiency, as you can see in works like “Factorio” and “Satisfactory.” right.
I think this kind of work is liked by engineers because the elements of making programming more efficient and playing games better can also be applied to work. I think the fact that “Omega Crafter” includes so many elements such as efficiency is what makes PFN unique.
──It’s true that “Omega Crafter” is a work filled with the charm of an engineer. Mr. Fukuda, how do you hope Omega Crafter will succeed?
Mr. Fukuda:
Anyway, I want as many people as possible to play it. As an engineer, I think it’s only natural that you want many people to use what you create, so we are working closely with Sato’s team to achieve that goal. I believe that if we create something excellent, it will definitely be accepted by users, so we are working hard to release it.
──What are the goals and objectives set by Mr. Sato in the field? I think one of my ambitions is to complete the game.
Mr. Sato:
Actually, I don’t really see completion itself as a goal. If anything, I think the goal is to get as many people as possible to play the game. Open world survival craft games have a large number of players, and there are many titles that are played by over 1 million people. Recently, there was news that the total number of players for “Pal World” has exceeded 19 million. We hope that more people can play our titles and experience the joy of improving efficiency through programming.
Mr. Fukuda:
You mentioned earlier that you were surprised to find out that PFN was making Omega Crafter, but I think there are many people in the world who don’t even know about the company PFN. Meanwhile, I would be happy if PFN could create a work that left an impact enough for people to think of it as the company behind “Omega Crafter.”
I would also like the title to be one that would be mentioned as a masterpiece of the work I have been involved with.
──I’m looking forward to it. Thank you for today.
“Omega Crafter” is available on PC (Steam) Scheduled to be released in early access from March 29th. A demo version is currently available.
[執筆・編集：Yusuke Oizumi]
[聞き手・写真・編集：Ayuo Kawase]
