It feels like every other day I'm writing some article about AI carving through people's livelihoods and studios closing. I say that not to convey desensitisation, but exhaustion—it's been an absolute nose-dive of a couple of years for AAA games, to the point where industry figures are having to repeatedly speak out against a slow and vicious deathroll that doesn't seem to be stopping as much as it is varying in tempo.
Unless you're a Japanese AAA publisher, in which case you're—um, actually doing quite well. That's as pointed out by Japanese analyst Dr. Serkan Toto on his blog, KantanGames: "The mass layoffs and studio closures in North America and Europe really have not spilled over to Japan, apart from isolated exceptions that are a drop in the ocean compared to the storm the industry is seeing in the West currently."
A report shared by Toto shows that some studios are actually keen to grow—to the point where their corner of the market's actually facing labour shortages. He also notes that many of these large, heavy-hitting studios are raising their salaries. For example, late last year, FromSoftware raised its starting salary by 11%.
Really, though, the most convincing argument he puts forward is that five out of eight major Japanese studios announced all-time share prices in, like, February. Of 2025. There's been a bit of a boom, to say the least. Among the list are Sony, Nintendo, Konami, Capcom, and Bandai Namco—which, unlike the others, hit its high this month.
And looking back on it, jeez. They've all been kinda killing it, lately. Sony and Nintendo are maybe less surprising—Sony's an enormous tech company with its own console, though it ought to be noted it's been boosted by a heavy-hitting roster of IPs like Marvel's Spider-Man and God of War. Nintendo is, you know, Nintendo.
But Konami, Capcom, and Bandai Namco have all been putting out some solid stuff. Bandai Namco's claim to fame is obvious, with Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree landing to critical acclaim, and Nightreign following close on its heels—its experimental nature and all-star roster of bosses a potent hype machine.
Capcom, meanwhile, just released a goddamn Monster Hunter game, which is a big enough deal in Japan to create waves of sickdays—and we're rather enjoying it on this side of the pond, too. But even Konami's been resurfacing from its long midnight of the soul with a surprisingly solid Silent Hill 2 remake, and with Silent Hill f on the way, it very well may have gotten its groove back.
So, what's Japan doing differently? Well, it's a little harder to just lay everyone off, for one. While that's not always a good thing, with unsettling practices such as expulsion rooms, there's at least legal pressure for major Japanese studios to keep institutional talent on board—which if you ask Larian, is a lesson many major studios have yet to learn.
Toto, though, sums it up as follows: "There are certain macro trends playing a major role here (political initiatives like corporate governance reforms in Japan, weakness of other Asian stock markets like China, currency effects, etc.), but the five aforementioned AAA game companies have been doing their homework and performing very well financially over the last few years."
Sometimes the plan really is to just make good games and not make bad ones. Unless you're Hi-Fi Rush creator Tango Gameworks—but they were a smaller studio, right? Surely if you're working for Blizzard you're safe—oh, right, they laid off 1,900 people across Blizzard and Xbox last year. Maybe if you help put out a smash hit like Marvel Rivals? No? Ah, damnit.
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