- An analyst claims Japanese developers face fewer layoffs because they work in smaller teams.
- Not chasing multi-million-dollar live-service trends also helped them stay stable.
- Japanese studios also put developers before executives, paying bosses fewer bonuses than Western studios.
All major Western publishers have faced layoffs affecting thousands of developers across various roles over the years. In the last 4 years alone, a study found that over 57K developers have been affected by these firings across the industry.
Despite these grim figures, the research by ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker also found that Japanese studios have remained quite safe from layoffs and the rest of the doom and gloom. In fact, studios like Capcom have been riding their highs for multiple years now.
Why it matters: AAA Western studios have been chasing increasingly safe yet high-budget titles, which struggle to recoup costs even if they are successful. Pair this with yearly layoffs, and the industry becomes highly volatile and unstable compared to Japanese studios.
As reported by the Knowledge newsletter, industry analyst and owner of the ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker, Amir Satvat, explains in an Edge magazine interview that Japanese studios like Konami and Capcom maintain a staff retention rate of over 97%.
It’s a number unimaginable with any Western publisher nowadays. So, why is there such a huge disparity? Amir argues that Japanese publishers have remained grounded instead of inflating project budgets and expanding into tens of thousands of large teams.
Japanese teams tend to be much smaller and leaner. They didn’t get swept up in the live-service trend, or into these mega-blockbusters with 500-person teams.
-Analyst, Amir Satvat.
Not chasing volatile live-service trends has also helped Japanese studios like Capcom, as their focus on beloved IPs and new initiatives has increasingly resonated with Western gamers who are tired of the same safe formulas repeated by Western AAA teams.
[And then there’s] the executive salaries. They still make great money, but it’s two or three million dollars, not 30 million.
Executive pay and bonuses have also played a role. For example, EA’s Andrew Wilson enjoyed a handsome $38.6m payout last year, while the publisher laid off hundreds of developers at the same time.
Japanese execs tend to accept fewer payouts, and developers also enjoy better bonuses.
Do you think the Western AAA gaming industry can learn from Japanese publishers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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