Goichi Suda

Alongside his more recognizable work, both he and his studio have developed other video game projects in collaboration with outside studios, including original titles such as Guild01 and Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse; and licensed projects related to anime series such as Blood+, Samurai Champloo and the Short Peace project. Since No More Heroes, Suda has taken a more managerial role within his company, although he continues contributing to several projects including Killer Is Dead. Suda's own work is characterized by a focus on themes of crime and the clash of people with different ideals. While his early works adopted a serious tone, his later projects incorporated elements of humor — Suda has stated that he enjoys alternating between dark and comedic projects. Aspects of his work have been influenced by film and literature, with one of his favorite authors being Franz Kafka.

His next title, killer7, was his breakout title in the West and garnered mainstream public attention for both Suda and his studio. Suda acted as scenario writer, designer and director. Development began in 2002 as part of a pentalogy of video games dubbed the Capcom Five, a set of games overseen by Shinji Mikami and intended to be exclusive to the GameCube. Suda was given high creative freedom by Mikami, allowing Suda to create an experimental game for an international audience. His next major title was No More Heroes for the Wii, which further established Suda's international reputation. Suda developed the title for the Wii as he had been one of the first to see the hardware first-hand, and saw the possibilities of the Wii controls for sword-based action. While sharing elements with killer7, Suda adopted a lighter tone and style to suit his vision for the characters and story. Following No More Heroes, Suda took on a supervisory role for the majority of future Grasshopper Projects including the No More Heroes sequel Desperate Struggle. He continued to be involved with writing and planning for Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw, Black Knight Sword and Killer is Dead. His guidance in the studio is credited with helping the company balance its original work with licensed collaborations, and prominent staff from other companies joining Grasshopper. His last project as director was Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, a No More Heroes spin-off title for the Nintendo Switch.. In 2019, it was announced he would continue his work as director for Grasshopper Manufacture's next title, No More Heroes III, returning to a more hands-on approach to the main line entry of the series.

Goichi Suda (須田 剛一 , Suda Gōichi, born January 2, 1968) , commonly known by the nickname Suda51, is a Japanese video game designer, writer and director. He is the founder and CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture, which has produced some of his most recognized work including The Silver Case, Flower, Sun, and Rain, killer7, and the No More Heroes series. Suda is from Nagano Prefecture in Japan, moving to Tokyo at the age of 18 and eventually being hired as a designer at Human Entertainment after having a number of other jobs including as an undertaker. After leaving Human Entertainment, he founded Grasshopper Manufacture and worked on their debut title The Silver Case as writer, director and designer. The Silver Case helped establish both Suda and his company in Japan, but Suda and Grasshopper gained international attention with the release of killer7, Suda's first title to be released outside Japan.

Goichi Suda was born in the city of Ueda in Japan's Nagano Prefecture on January 2, 1968, and lived in the region until moving to Tokyo when he was eighteen. Suda has spoken little of his early life, but he did not have a good relationship with his family, and disliked living in Nagano despite its natural beauty. He wished to design video games from an early age. Among his early jobs were working at Sega as a graphics designer for their brochures. One of his more unusual jobs was as an undertaker. Although he was more involved with flower arrangements, he still had his sights on a career in video games. Seeing an advert from Human Entertainment, then famous for the Fire Pro Wrestling series, and feeling his knowledge of wrestling would aid him he applied for a job as game designer. While distant from his family in Nagano, Suda is married and has his own family in Tokyo. In later years, Suda would come to be known by the nickname "Suda51". The nickname stems from the two parts of his given name—"go" translates to "5" and "ichi" to "1".