Yukio Futatsugi

Yukio Futatsugi
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Video game developer
Organization	Grounding Inc

Yukio Futatsugi is a Japanese video game developer. His work includes leading the teams which created Sega Saturn games Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, and Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Xbox title Phantom Dust. He is the co-founder of video game development company Grounding Inc who developed Crimson Dragon.

Yukio Futatsugi grew up in Kobe, Japan, where he attended high school. While spending a year in San Francisco at primary school age he fell in love with games such as Pong and Space Invaders, and later decided to pursue a career in video games over his other hobby, filmmaking. Of this choice Futatsugi said "I went with videogames, because I thought the world of games was about to become interesting." He attended the University of Tsukuba in Tokyo where he graduated with a degree in computer science.

"I want to create something with permanence; something that will remain in the hearts of the group of people I made the game for; something for those who are starving for a new experience; something that will stay fresh and unique ten years after its release; something that uses graphics and sound to leave a mark in the minds of players; something that doesn't look like any other game -- that's what I want to create."

In 1991, after finishing his degree, Futatsugi joined Sega. After two years of what he considered "menial tasks" he submitted a proposal for Panzer Dragoon which Sega accepted, placing him in charge of the project, aimed for release alongside the Sega Saturn in 1995. Following the success of the game Futatsugi's team went on to make two sequels, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei and Panzer Dragoon Saga, both for the Sega Saturn, which they created simultaneously. Following the release of Panzer Dragoon Saga Futatsugi left Sega, moving to Konami for a year where he helped with Ring of Red, and then to Sony where he made the Japan-only PlayStation 2 title Genshi No Kotoba. Futatsugi went on to work at Microsoft where he, for a short while, helped with the development of Magatama before successfully pitching the idea for Phantom Dust which released for Xbox in 2004. Futatsugi was then made a manager, overseeing some early games for the Xbox 360 and as head of the game design unit judged whether certain titles were suitable for release in Japan.

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