Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil, reportedly believes that if players feel satisfied just watching someone else play a game from start to finish, then the game itself has not done its job well enough.

The statement was not made directly to the public. It came through Japanese comedian Eika Kano, who shared the anecdote during an appearance on TV Asahi’s late-night chat show Mitorizu Jan last week, as reported by Nikkan. Kano was asked to talk about people he admired and brought up a conversation he had with Mikami.

Kano, who regularly streams games on his own YouTube channel, said he had long felt uneasy about streaming Resident Evil titles because of how much story and puzzle content those games contain. He had already gotten permission from Capcom to stream, but still felt unsure about how players felt about having those elements spoiled for them.

When he got the chance to speak with Mikami, he decided to ask him directly about streaming, and said he was prepared to stop doing it if Mikami disapproved. That was not the response he got. According to Kano, Mikami told him: “If viewers watching the game stream are satisfied just by watching it through to the end, then the game must only be so good.” Mikami reportedly went on to say that it is a developer’s responsibility to make games that players will want to finish themselves, even after watching someone else do it.

Kano also said he brought up the same topic with Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii and received a similar answer, adding that the two creators seem to share the same way of thinking. The view lines up with something Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi said earlier this month. Hamaguchi warned that RPGs today risk becoming the kind of experience people feel comfortable just watching rather than playing, calling it something game creators cannot fully welcome.

While these comments come from different people across different franchises, they point to a shared concern in the industry: that games need to offer something that simply cannot be passed on through a screen, something that only comes from being the one holding the controller.