Study: Just over half of Japanese developers turn a profit [Joystiq]

[DP ServBot]

The last couple of years have been tough on Japanese game developers, according to a recently released study (PDF). The study, compiled by one Mirko Ernkvist, used consolidated financial data and revealed that just over half of Japanese developers actually manage to turn a profit. Specifically, in the last reported fiscal year for Japanese developers, 54.8 percent of companies reported a positive profit.

Obviously, that means that nearly half of developers either broke even or saw a financial loss. The study attributes these issues to a decrease in both domestic and international demand, increasing production costs and other factors like a strong Japanese Yen and "unfavorable demographic development in Japan and the challenging development of domestic consumption."

The data collected refers mostly to larger, publicly held companies, while financial data regarding smaller studios is harder to come by. Still, the study paints something of a bleak picture. With several Japan-focused panels planned for GDC next month -- notably a panel with Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune -- you can bet we'll be hearing plenty about how Japanese developers plan to reinvigorate their industry.Study: Just over half of Japanese developers turn a profit originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

More...

[Gameguy]

Does that mean developers making games like Rapelay aren't profitable anymore?

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Ha, I just read DP Servbot's signature. I didn't realize it wasn't a real person. You serve your masters well, Mr. Servbot.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Does that mean developers making games like Rapelay aren't profitable anymore?

I think those fall under the "indie game" banner so they may actually make a profit.

[Gameguy]

I think those fall under the "indie game" banner so they may actually make a profit.

It's not an indie developer, they've been around for over 10 years and have over 30 games. Thanks goes to Wikipedia or I'd never find info about any of this stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusion_Soft

Maybe these are the main developers in Japan that actually make a decent profit with games. I'm not sure if I'm more offended by these games or casual games like FarmVille, it's pretty close.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Huh, well I'll be.

I mostly meant that they're not big corporations like many of the big names that do console work. Either way, I stand corrected.

[Press_Start]

Catherine sold 500K worldwide. Dark Souls sold over a million. Muramasa sold close to 300K in US on the Wii alone. And Radiant Historia's getting a reprint. Lesson: gamers are thirsty for great innovative games. Gamers don't care (besides collectors) for mass-produced generic boobie-fests like they're cheap $1 Hong Kong knockoffs. Lesson #2: Do something ORIGINAL! Thank you.

[xelement5x]

GUST also seems to have been doing well enough that Namco-Bandai decided to drop a chunk of change and purchase them. They might also be likened to an indie developer as well since the teams are supposed to be pretty small, but it doesn't look like there's as much room for middle-sized development houses.