Takashi Iizuka, head of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, says AAA studios could learn from indie developers. He explained that big-budget games are so expensive to make that major publishers often have to play it safe.“you really need to sell a lot of units in order to survive in the industry.” According to Iizuka, indie teams can come up with ideas and turn them into games very quickly. He said there’s a lot that bigger companies can learn from the indie development scene, adding that working with smaller teams is really stimulating because of how fast and creative they are. Iizuka also compared gaming to Hollywood, saying, “the movie industry is kind of going through similar issues that we in the game industry are going through.” he thinks indie games can help push the industry forward too.

Takashi Tezuka, a longtime Nintendo executive and close collaborator with Shigeru Miyamoto, is retiring as Executive Officer effective June 26, 2026. He played a major role in creating early hits like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda for the NES, helping establish Nintendo’s core game design principles over his decades at the company. Well deserved