Do you feel the rhythm of the beat? Can you just not get enough of music-based games with a good soundtrack? Then you most likely have PM Studios to thank for bringing many hit titles to the West. With PM Studios’ recent announcement for MUSYNX’s release date of June 19, we sat down with the company’s CEO and Co-Founder, Michael Yum, to learn more!
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Michael Yum and I am the CEO and Co-Founder for PM Studios. I grew up extremely dedicated to videogames and have been playing and collecting them for over 30 years now. To this date I have over 200 Platinum Trophies on PSN, 50K+ Gamerscore on Xbox and over 2000 physical games in my collection. I started off in the industry QA testing PS2 games and worked my way up to becoming a producer and eventually started my own company with some great friends.
What was the first console/game you ever owned?
NES. I bought it with Kung Fu and it came with ROB and Gyromite. I still have it!
Do you have any fond childhood memories based around gaming?
I loved going to the arcades and playing games there. I think I went almost every weekend with my dad. When the NES first came out I begged him to buy it for me and I still cherish it to this date. But I think my fondest memory had to be when my dad came home one day with a minivan and told me to open the door and there was a new Galaga machine inside.
Can you share some words about PM Studios for those who might be familiar with your titles, but not the publisher behind them?
So the PM stands for Play Makers, but it also came about because the co-founder’s names are Peter and Michael. A lot of people don’t know that and always ask me. We started this company because we loved videogames and wanted to help publish amazing games that couldn’t get to the west. After a few successful titles we started developing everything either internally or through co-developments.
Arriving on the scene about 10 years ago, PM Studios has helped to bring rhythm-based games to multiple platforms in the West. From the DJMax series on the PSP to SUPERBEAT: XONiC on the Vita, PS4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch, what was it about this genre that appealed to you?
When we first started the company the music game scene was starting to boom and we knew we wanted to start there. After searching and searching we came across DJMAX and contacted the developers for a partnership. We pretty much had an amazing synergy and almost became one company after the first release. This led us to co-developing and publishing many titles together and the creation of Technika and SUPERBEAT: XONiC. We had such an amazing fan base we knew we couldn’t let them down so it pressured us to keep making new games for the rhythm genre. Eventually, we started collaborating with other indie rhythm game devs and now it became a big part of our identity.
Three upcoming titles that will be gracing retail shelves in the coming year are MUSYNX, VOEZ, and Mercenaries Saga Chronicles. Could you first speak a bit about MUSYNX and VOEZ?
For MUSYNX we met I-Inferno at an early stage in their development cycle and the game was just being released for mobile. The team knew we had experience releasing games for consoles so they asked us to help them get started and that’s pretty much everything. They are a very talented team and worked with so much heart to get their game out to console gamers around the world.
For VOEZ, it actually happened differently than most may think. So we collaborated with Rayark for Deemo on Vita and Rayark was working with Circle on Switch versions. A contact at Circle reached out to us and asked if wanted to collaborate on some projects and we of course were honored and very excited to work with them. We did a couple quick meetings and we began our journey together with VOEZ.
While not the first title in your catalog to depart from the musical genre, one of great excitement is Mercenaries Saga Chronicles. How did PM Studios and CIRCLE Entertainment find each other?
We actually answered this with the other question. After we started VOEZ, Circle brought up Mercenaries Saga Chronicles about a couple weeks later. We loved the game and knew we had to do it.
Might there be any feelies/goodies included in the physical release of the game?
I am a big fan of physical releases and I know that the Switch games can cost a bit. We are currently looking at some goodies for our releases.
One question on all our minds is if you could describe the process of bringing a title to retail and all that it entails?
The hardest part really is making the game. Once you have a great game and we get it approved, we just coordinate sales with our retail team and distributors and try our best to get the game out there. The market is pretty much all about the distribution and sell through. So as long as people are buying it the retailers are willing to carry it.
If given the choice, what upcoming titles would you love to help publish for retail?
There is a game that I really loved and wanted to collaborate with and it’s called Horizon Chase Turbo for PS4. I love old school arcade games especially racers and this game just nails it. Even if we don’t do it, I hope someone else does. Another one I would love to see is Taiko Drum Master!! Something about this game reminds me of the PS2 era and great Japanese games that need to come here.
Aside from the announced titles in the works, could you tease any future projects today?
Unfortunately we cannot disclose anything yet but I can give you a hint. On April 26th we will be announcing a new game. It will be mobile and like our recent Chef Curry game it will be celebrity related with someone insanely popular around the world. We also have another project about game collecting in the works.
Besides your own, what upcoming games are you looking forward to playing?
God of War, Detroit: Become Human, Dragons Crown Pro, Owlboy Physical of course, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, Code of Princess EX, and Spider-Man.
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to share?
Just really want to thank everyone out there for all the support these past 10 years. We will continue to work hard to develop and publish games for you guys and really just can’t thank you enough.
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