Bokeh Game Studio is a game developer founded by Keiichiro Toyama, creator of Silent Hill, the Siren and Gravity Rush series. With addition of new staff joining Toyama's core team, they are currently developing “Slitterhead” which revealed its teaser trailer at The Game Awards in 2021.
“Bokeh” is a method of expression in photography and is originated from the same Japanese word. Initially it was regarded a failure, however began to be widely recognized as a genuine artistic expression through Japanese works. Now the word “Bokeh” is regarded to be the global terminology of this.
Toyama, who always has his camera with him, chose the company name because he was impressed by the Japanese style of “wabi-sabi” found in such functionality and the idea that it would spread around the world.
*“Silent Hill” is a trademark of Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
*“Siren” “Gravity Rush” is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC.
-
CEO/Creator
CEO/Creator
Keiichiro Toyama
I think we have always been credited for the unique and novel game design, also seen in the world-building from our past works. I believe this approach will never change for us. We began this company to continue working on these kinds of games in a free environment.
I strongly – and simply think that life is something that you must enjoy. So even though my responsibilities have increased and I feel a bit nervous, I’m able to enjoy myself even more than before and immerse myself in creating games. This is something we will always pursue with our studio.
While our first game “Slitterhead” was produced by the studio as a whole, my desire is for us to evolve into a studio that can produce a variety of titles with even more diversity.
I also think it’s an important mission for me to utilize my experience to support young creators who have a fresher, creative mind.
Works
- Silent Hill (1999)
- Siren (2004)
- Siren 2 (2006)
- Siren: Blood Curse (2008)
- Gravity Rush (2012)
- Gravity Rush 2 (2017)
-
COO/Producer
COO/Producer
Kazunobu Sato
I began thinking about starting a company whilst having a drink with Toyama-san. At that time, he and I had been working on separate projects for over 10 years since the SIREN series, but we would still frequently meet for drinks and have a chat(I guess that part still hasn’t changed now…)
I think it was through these conversations that we came to agree on the kind of work we wanted to do for the remainder of our careers. My desire was to continue working as a game creator for as long as possible, while also supporting the younger generation of developers.
I believe that won’t change in the future – and I will always welcome those who are passionate about creating video games, and maybe also like to have some drinks with them(if they don’t mind!)
Let’s share all the despair, setbacks, sense of accomplishment and success together as a team!
Works
- Siren (2004)
- Siren 2 (2006)
- Siren: Blood Curse (2008)
- Puppeteer (2013)
- The Last Guardian (2016)
-
CTO/Game Director
CTO/Game Director
Junya Okura
While working at the previous studio I was employed at, I felt many things were about to change – and that was when Toyama-san approached me. Looking back on it now, it was a massive decision to make…but at the time, strangely enough, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Sato-san(Producer) was involved, and we talked about many things – and took things step by step from then on.
What can we do with just ourselves? What can we offer from our experiences? This was a big challenge for me.
Today, that is still a challenge for all of us.
In the future, I would like to create a place where people can take on serious challenges, and a place where we can support those who take on those challenges. I would also like to continue creating games, which is my passion.
Works
- Siren (2004)
- Siren 2 (2006)
- Siren: Blood Curse (2008)
- Gravity Rush (2012)
- Gravity Rush 2 (2017)
-
In our fifth episode of Golden Hour, we invited Kazutaka Kodaka – who is well known for creating & writing the Danganronpa franchise. Having just released his latest work(Master Detective Archives: Rain Code), he was happy to visit our studio to share drinks with Toyama. Kodaka is acknowledged for his writing, so naturally the two discussed their differences in how they approach story writing.
-
Alongside our Golden Hour series, we will be sharing “Dev Diary” videos so that you can follow the development of Slitterhead and listen to our internal team who share their experiences working on the game. Have a look at our new video covering a user test session conducted earlier this year. Please note that all of the in-game content is pre-alpha footage, and not a representation of the final product.
-
Hideaki Itsuno(Capcom) has been involved in many titles such as “Street Fighter Alpha”. As Director his main works are the “Devil May Cry” and “Dragon’s Dogma” series. He is currently working on the lately announced sequel “Dragon’s Dogma 2”. We invited Itsuno-san to join us from Osaka and having lived through the same generation with Toyama-san, the two looked back to the days of creating games in the early PlayStation era.
-
This time around we followed a young programmer’s day working at Bokeh Game Studio. Meet Gameplay Programmer Tatsuya Matsushita, who openly describes how he joined us from Sony, and how he feels about the development of “Slitterhead” and the work environment of the studio.
Please note there is also some very early development footage of “Slitterhead” in this video. We hope you enjoy.
-
Tonight we are joined by our former colleague and boss, Shuhei Yoshida. We sat and looked back to the days of working together to create games such as Siren, Puppeteer, Gravity Rush and The Last Guardian. We also talked about how the industry has shaped itself today and pondered whether we should be regarded as an “Indie” studio.
-
Our first guest for this new series is Shinji Mikami, acclaimed director most known for having created the Resident Evil series. He sat down with our very own Keiichiro Toyama, his counterpart who created the original Silent Hill.
We hope you enjoy this rare opportunity in two creators who formed what arguably became to be known as the two most iconic horror franchises of all time.
We will continue this Golden Hour series to invite known creators from the game industry and beyond. Please subscribe to our channel to keep updated about our new content! -
In our new video we feature Akira Yamaoka, who we announced as Composer and Audio Director of our upcoming project “Slitterhead” at The Game Awards 2021. Having worked with Toyama on Silent Hill, Yamaoka shares his thoughts on reuniting after 20 years, as well as his overall approach to game audio and stance on working on Slitterhead.
-
We are pleased to announce our very first title in development, “Slitterhead”. The teaser footage debuted at The Game Awards 2021 was streamed online and in front of the crowd at The Microsoft Theater, LA. Not only does this mark a fresh start with a new IP from Toyama, who left Sony Interactive Entertainment last year, but a reunion of old friends; the teaser revealed that Akira Yamaoka, known as Composer and Producer of the “Silent Hill” series, will collaborate once again with Toyama on the title as Composer. To learn more, we encourage all media and gamers to subscribe to our YouTube Channel where we are/will be frequently sharing our journey working on this new project.
-
We are pleased to announce that Tatsuya Yoshikawa will be collaborating with us on our new project as Character Designer. His status is legendary in Japan, having worked on games such as Breath of Fire and Devil May Cry. This is the second time he will work with Toyama, having collaborated on the Gravity Rush 2 DLC “Another Story: The Ark of Time – Raven’s Choice”. We also share early artwork of two main characters from our upcoming project in this video.
-
2024.8.16
Slitterhead – Story Trailer
-
2024.6.8
Slitterhead – Gameplay Trailer – SGF 2024
-
2024.2.21
Junji ito at Bokeh Game Studio
-
2024.2.21
Dev Diary: Motion Capture for Slitterhead
-
2023.8.3
Danganronpa Creator Kazutaka Kodaka Visits Bokeh Game Studio
-
2023.7.6
Dev Diary: Slitterhead Pre-Alpha User Tests
-
2023.6.7
Fumihiko Yasuda & Makoto Shibata of Team NINJA at Bokeh Game Studio
-
2023.5.17
Welcome to the Bokeh Game Studio Channel
-
2022.11.15
Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma Director Visits Bokeh Game Studio
-
2022.9.29
A Day with Tatsuya Matsushita, Programmer at Bokeh Game Studio
-
2022.9.9
Making of – Logo Animation
-
2022.8.10
Shuhei Yoshida Visits Bokeh Game Studio
-
2022.3.30
Resident Evil’s Creator Visits Bokeh Game Studio
-
2022.2.25
Q&A Session with Bokeh Game Studio Founders: Part Two
-
2022.2.25
Q&A Session with Bokeh Game Studio Founders: Part One
-
2021.12.23
Reuniting with Silent Hill’s Composer After 20 years
-
2021.12.10
野狗子: Slitterhead – Teaser Trailer – TGA 2021
-
2021.11.24
Breath of Fire and Devil May Cry Character Designer Joins Bokeh Game Studio
-
2021.10.12
Portrait: Miki Takahashi, Concept Artist
-
2021.6.24
Portrait: Kazunobu Sato, Producer
-
2021.2.15
Portrait: Keiichiro Toyama, Creative Director
-
2020.12.3
A New Chapter – Bokeh Game Studio
-
2024.8.16
Slitterhead – Story Trailer
-
2024.6.8
Slitterhead – Gameplay Trailer – SGF 2024
-
2024.2.21
Junji ito at Bokeh Game Studio
-
2024.2.21
Dev Diary: Motion Capture for Slitterhead
-
2023.8.3
Danganronpa Creator Kazutaka Kodaka Visits Bokeh Game Studio
-
2023.7.6
Dev Diary: Slitterhead Pre-Alpha User Tests
-
2023.6.7
Fumihiko Yasuda & Makoto Shibata of Team NINJA at Bokeh Game Studio
-
2023.5.17
Welcome to the Bokeh Game Studio Channel
-
2022.11.15
Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma Director Visits Bokeh Game Studio
-
2022.9.29
A Day with Tatsuya Matsushita, Programmer at Bokeh Game Studio
-
2022.9.9
Making of – Logo Animation
-
2022.8.10
Shuhei Yoshida Visits Bokeh Game Studio
-
2022.3.30
Resident Evil’s Creator Visits Bokeh Game Studio
-
2022.2.25
Q&A Session with Bokeh Game Studio Founders: Part Two
-
2022.2.25
Q&A Session with Bokeh Game Studio Founders: Part One
-
2021.12.23
Reuniting with Silent Hill’s Composer After 20 years
-
2021.12.10
野狗子: Slitterhead – Teaser Trailer – TGA 2021
-
2021.11.24
Breath of Fire and Devil May Cry Character Designer Joins Bokeh Game Studio
-
2021.10.12
Portrait: Miki Takahashi, Concept Artist
-
2021.6.24
Portrait: Kazunobu Sato, Producer
-
2021.2.15
Portrait: Keiichiro Toyama, Creative Director
-
2020.12.3
A New Chapter – Bokeh Game Studio