Indie spirit in Japan and Switzerland: Rinaldo Wirz on captaining Momo-pi

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Captain Velvet Meteor was the second game released by the cross-continental indie gaming studio Momo-pi.

Founded in 2018 but working together on a small prototype project in the years leading towards the group’s official foundation, this loose collective of developers has crossed cultures from Europe to Japan and worked on award-winning titles for both mobile and consoles, both alone and with major Japanese publishers.

After all, how many developers get the chance to be entrusted with Shueisha’s world-famous Shonen Jump IP? Imagine taking the reins of major franchises from the Japanese manga institution's Jump+ web service like Spy x Family, never mind being chosen to represent the company's first foray into video games?

The story of the development of Captain Velvet Meteor, from an idea in the mind of studio co-founder and creative director Rinaldo Wirz about a cross-cultural boy navigating life in a new country, to a crossover title of Jump IP on the back of a slew of awards, is the story of indie development in Japan as a foreign developer, and a story of lessons learned.

While very much a collaborative effort, Wirz’s story as an international developer in Japan goes back further as an internal developer at the likes of Square Enix before he branched into indie creation, and invokes experiences of culture shock and adjustment to live in another country.

Yet, far from gaming, Wirz’s career in Japan actually started in the world of animation.

"I come from Switzerland, and while it’s starting to have some sense of [games and animation] industry built up, at the time there was no future for me – so I left to do my dream of working as an