English
HQ
Gamereactor
Videos
Hotel Barcelona

Hotel Barcelona - Hidetaka 'Swery65' Suehiro IndieDevDay Interview

Swery was present at the IndieDevDay in Barcelona to present his new game called, wait for it, Hotel Barcelona. His panel was hosted by Gamereactor's own David Caballero and here he throws a few questions to the Japanese developer to learn more about the film-parody 2D slasher and how it came to be as a collaboration with Suda51.

Audio transcription

"I think that was a really nice presentation for you feeling under the weather.
That was really, really good.
Thank you."

"I wanted to ask you how this, if this originally was a horror game inspired by Twin Peaks and Forbidden Siren, how did it transform to this unique 2D slasher with movie parodies?
He's always wanted to make a horror game together with Suda51, and when they were talking about it, he came up with a very complicated idea for a game."

"And Suda51 said, no, no, you should make it more simple.
Just make it a game where you go around killing other serial killers.
And he thought that was a great idea.
So he took that idea and merged it with an idea he had for a side-scrolling game."

"And that's what this game is.
How is it, I mean, Suda, I know Suda very well.
We go back a long time, and I know he's all about serial killers, isn't he?
How is it to work with him, and how do you guys collaborate on this project?
Before they decided on the idea, they had multiple meetings where they would drink together and just discuss their ideas."

"And then once they decided on the idea, Suda51 created the base idea for the game.
And then Swery took that, and with his studio, he built it into the game now.
And he has Suda51 check the game and give his feedback on the game.
And how do you guys work in choosing movies and inspiration?
Of course, we got, for example, Cat People in Deadly Premonition."

"In this one, you have parodies for many movies.
How do you work with movies and inspiration yourself?
So, for this game in particular, in order to track down the serial killers, we have to go to seven different worlds, seven different stages.
And each stage is a parody of a different sub-genre of horror."

"So, for example, the first one is summer camp horror parody.
The next one is restaurant horror parody.
There's also alien horror parody.
So, there's seven different sub-genres of the game."

"Do we have a fixed release date for this game? Because this is finished, this is complete. Do we have a release date yet?
I think it's already finished. When is it going to be released?
So, right now, they're bug checking the game and they want to keep polishing it and making it better.
But ideally, they want to release the game in early 2025."

"Perhaps we can have time for one or two questions by the audience themselves.
I think that would be nice. Five minutes.
There will be a simultaneous release on Steam, Xbox, and PS5.
Are you planning on releasing on the Switch as well in the future?
Nobody knows yet."

"In the distant future, maybe AI will port it to Switch for him.
Or the Switch 2, perhaps. Yes.
Before we get a question here, tell us a little bit more about your studio.
About the White Owls and how you guys work in Japan. How do you feel about your studio?
So, White Owls is a studio located in Osaka, Japan. There are only 13 people on the team."

"And they're always working on two or three games at the same time.
And their goal is to deliver unique games to people like you, who like very unique games.
I had a question when I saw the name of the game.
I would like to ask what's the relationship between Barcelona and this game?
Is it a game based on a story?
Or is it a story based on a game?
I think it's a story based on a game."

"I think it's a story based on a game.
We have a story based on a game.
And I think it's a story based on a game.
I would like to ask what's the relationship between Barcelona and the game, since it happens in America."

"The story is very deep, and it is actually related to the city of Barcelona.
But that's something you have to play the game carefully to understand.
The reason why the title was decided to be Hotel Barcelona was because Suda-san suddenly announced the title at the event.
I thought it was cool, and I liked it, so that's how it was decided."

"I didn't hear about it.
Suda has been to Barcelona a couple of times, I can say that.
I have a question for you. Have you considered releasing the physical version in the future?
Are you planning to release the physical version?
I think that will be decided by the publisher."

"But I think there is a possibility, since Limited Run Games has already released physical versions.
So hopefully that will happen this time, too.
What happens in the new moon? It's two days until the new moon, it says there.
What happens in the new moon? It's two days until the new moon, it says there."

"What happens in the new moon?
Every three days, there is a new moon in the game.
And when it's a new moon, it's very dark.
And you can only see around your character. It's pitch black, so it becomes very difficult."

"Be careful.
Do we have time for the last one? Or we don't? One minute, two minutes?
No, we don't have more time.
The last question, of course, is which is your favorite place in Barcelona?
What do you like the most?
Barcelona's favorite place."

"Place? Bar?
Bars.
Bars in Barcelona. I thought you were going to say the hotel, but that's nice.
I think we're all thankful for your presentation. Thank you so much."

"Thank you.
And get better. Feel better.
Gracias, gracias."

Interviews

Etermax - 15th Anniversary Interview

Etermax - 15th Anniversary Interview

More

Videos

More

Movie Trailers

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew - Official Trailer

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew - Official Trailer

Presence - Official Trailer

Presence - Official Trailer

Squid Game: Season 2 - Official Teaser

Squid Game: Season 2 - Official Teaser

Black Doves - Official Trailer

Black Doves - Official Trailer

Spellbound - Official Trailer

Spellbound - Official Trailer

Queer - Official Trailer

Queer - Official Trailer

Marvel Studios - 2025 Release Slate Trailer

Marvel Studios - 2025 Release Slate Trailer

The Madness - Official Teaser Trailer

The Madness - Official Teaser Trailer

The Sticky - Official Trailer

The Sticky - Official Trailer

A Man on the Inside - Official Trailer

A Man on the Inside - Official Trailer

That Christmas - Official Trailer

That Christmas - Official Trailer

Landman - Official Trailer #2

Landman - Official Trailer #2

More

Trailers

The First Berserker: Khazan - Opening Cinematic

The First Berserker: Khazan - Opening Cinematic

Two Point Museum - Supernatural Trailer

Two Point Museum - Supernatural Trailer

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - PS5 Pro Enhanced Trailer

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 - PS5 Pro Enhanced Trailer

Accolade Sports Collection - Retro Collection

Accolade Sports Collection - Retro Collection

Planet Coaster 2 - Launch Trailer

Planet Coaster 2 - Launch Trailer

Metro Awakening - Prologue Gameplay Trailer

Metro Awakening - Prologue Gameplay Trailer

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake - Launch Trailer

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake - Launch Trailer

Animal Use Protocol - Reveal Trailer

Animal Use Protocol - Reveal Trailer

Songs of Silence - 1.0 Release Date Trailer

Songs of Silence - 1.0 Release Date Trailer

Songs of Conquest - Console Release Date Trailer

Songs of Conquest - Console Release Date Trailer

More

Events

Phil Spencer takes the stage at BlizzCon 2023

Phil Spencer takes the stage at BlizzCon 2023

We're Ready for Summer Game Fest

We're Ready for Summer Game Fest

We're attending Summer Games Fest

We're attending Summer Games Fest

MSIology RTX40 event

MSIology RTX40 event

LG UltraGear - Luis Pablo Flores Interview

LG UltraGear - Luis Pablo Flores Interview

MWC 2022 - Blacknut - David Cook Interview

MWC 2022 - Blacknut - David Cook Interview

MWC 2022 - Oral B iO 10 - Katie Andrews Interview

MWC 2022 - Oral B iO 10 - Katie Andrews Interview

More