Goichi Suda, the No More Heroes creator better known by his online alias Suda 51, says that he was once asked to make a Deadpool game by Activision. The Grasshopper Manufacture CEO has also spoken further about his studio's ten-year plan, which should include three brand new games.
Speaking with VGC, Suda51 explained that he'd previously been approached by Activision over plans to make a Deadpool game. "Here’s something a lot of people probably don’t know,” Suda stated in the interview. “Over a decade ago, I was actually approached by Activision at one point to make a Deadpool game. It was sometime after the first No More Heroes came out. Obviously, that plan never came to fruition, and it fizzled out in the initial planning stages but I had some really cool ideas for it at the time.”
While plans for a Deadpool game with Suda at the helm were eventually shelved, Activision worked with developer High Moon Studios to release a game featuring the foul-mouthed hero in 2013. Although the game launched to mixed reviews, the character's popularity among mainstream audiences has since been notably elevated through Ryan Reynold's screen adaptation – perhaps opening the door wider to future Deadpool video games down the road.
In a separate interview with IGN Japan in August – featuring as part of the launch celebrations for the final installment of his No More Heroes series – Suda spoke about Grasshopper's plans for the future. During the interview, the studio boss confirmed that the company is currently working on three new original game IPs, but also said that he'd be interested in working alongside Marvel on a superhero title should the opportunity arise. "I’d love to work with Marvel on a Shatterstar or Deadpool game," said Suda during the interview. "Something sort of Grasshopper-y like that. Maybe a Quicksilver title of some sort."
While it seems that Grasshopper would jump at the chance to make a Marvel-based game in the future, Suda's interview with VGC delved further into the company's current ten-year plan and what fans should expect to see during that time.
“We’ve got a general plan in place for the next ten years," he said. At this point, we’re planning on doing three titles over the next decade: three new IPs. We’ve actually already begun the pre-production stuff on the first title, but I can’t say anything about it just yet.”
In terms of the scope of those games, Suda told VGC that they wouldn't necessarily be developing full-scale AAA games but that fans shouldn't expect to see anything too small either. "I’d say they’re probably going to be around ‘AA’-scale games," he states in the interview. "As in, the games themselves will be around AA-level scale, and the core team making them will be a relatively compact team.”
Despite the fact that Grasshopper has a long-term plan in place for the next decade, the studio boss was also keen to state that things could be subject to change, with the studio perhaps opting to take a different route with its upcoming IPs.
“With regard to the three new IPs I mentioned, we may actually go a slightly different route,” he explained. “What I mean is, we may actually decide to do like one new, original IP – the one we’re working on now – and then make a game version of an existing IP for our second game, and then go back and do another new one for the third one."
“There are a few games from back in the day that I’d like to get my hands on and try to do a reboot or a remake of some kind, or we may get approached by the right company with the right IP and decide to go with that… We’ll see how things work out.” Suda's previous games include Killer 7, Shadows of the Damned, Killer Is Dead, Lollipop Chainsaw, and much more.
Grasshopper Manufacture's last game, No More Heroes 3, marked the end of a franchise spanning over the last thirteen years. With Travis Touchdown and the series now behind them, fans will be eager to see what's next from Suda51 and the team.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.