Shuhei Yoshida, former president of SIE Worldwide Studios and current CEO of yosp Inc., met with newly awarded...Indie Game Award 2026 Best Art Award,Alluta: The Fox's Bread AdventureTaiwan development teamPicking up the dawn gameCo-founder Huang Pei-Yu, under the guidance of Daniel Robson, executive producer of IGN JAPAN, engaged in in-depth discussions on indie game development, early access strategies, and localization challenges.
Shuhei Yoshida stated frankly that his favorite games of the past two years were both Taiwanese-made titles, demonstrating that the strength of Taiwanese indie games should not be underestimated.
Adorably charming, "Alluta" conquers the judges with its bread and action.
Shuhei Yoshida immediately showed his love for Alluta: Bread Adventure of the Fox's Journey, jokingly saying that he had already played the second chapter and described the game as "so cute it melts my heart".
Regarding the choice of "bread" as the game's theme, Huang Pei-yu explained that bread symbolizes "warmth" for the team, and they hoped that through its aroma and sense of anticipation, the protagonist would return to a warm place. This approach of incorporating the developer's own preferences (personal biases) into the game is precisely what makes indie games so captivating.
Advantages of Taiwanese teams: limited resources, great potential, and diverse culture.
When discussing the characteristics of Taiwanese indie games, Shuhei Yoshida, who has seen countless games, gave them extremely high praise. He revealed that his favorite games of 2024 and 2025 are the Taiwanese titles "Nine Days" and "Text Game," respectively.
He observed that Taiwanese development teams are usually very small (for example, the development team for "Alluta" was only 5 people). Although resources are relatively scarce, this is precisely why they can better stimulate everyone's potential and squeeze their brainpower to the extreme.
Huang Pei-yu added that Taiwan's geographical and historical factors give it a multicultural perspective, which often allows Taiwanese games to have unique entry points in terms of themes and stories. As for resource issues, subsidies and promotions from the government and private organizations in recent years have indeed been helpful; "Alluta" itself has also received government subsidies.
Early access to the double-edged sword and localization challenges
The two sides also exchanged views on the Early Access model, which is common for indie games.
Huang Pei-yu believes that Early Access is a process of building a connection with players. By modifying the game through player feedback (such as the affinity system), players feel that they are also involved in the game's development, and this emotional connection is invaluable. Yoshida Shuhei also agrees that Early Access has value, but believes that the quality of Early Access games on Steam is getting higher and higher, inevitably raising players' expectations. If a game is released prematurely without sufficient polish, it may face harsh negative reviews. Therefore, he suggests trying Early Access on other platforms first, and then releasing the game on Steam only after perfecting it.
Regarding localization, Shuhei Yoshida emphasized that the Japanese version was crucial for penetrating the Japanese market because "Japanese people's English is really not very good." Pei-Yu Huang also shared that in addition to relying on the professional assistance of the publisher, translating the Taiwanese-flavored puns in "Alluta" was a major challenge, requiring subtle cultural translation to make foreign players understand and smile.
Analysis of viewpoints
The most touching part of this conversation was Shuhei Yoshida's sincere affirmation of Taiwanese indie games.
From *Nine Days* and *Word Games* to the current *Alluta*, Taiwanese indie games seem to have found a way to survive that is "small but beautiful" and "rich in cultural heritage." Just like *Journey*, which Shuhei Yoshida mentioned, indie games don't necessarily need a AAA-level graphics arms race. The key is whether they can break free from the mold and bring players a unique emotional experience.
For independent developers struggling to survive, Huang Pei-yu's last words were perhaps the best encouragement: "When the game is officially released, the sun will surely rise."
