Japanese devs aren't facing the same layoff crisis because their executives are paid an order of magnitude less, 'they didn’t get swept up in the live-service trend,' and their teams are smaller, says industry expert
It's hard to argue against those takeaways.
In a recent interview, Amir Satvat, a former Tencent Games business development director, has shed light on why the games industry layoff crisis has been uneven in its distribution across different regions. According to Satvat, the current situation is as bad as the 1983 videogame crash, particularly for developers in North America and Western Europe working for traditional triple-A studios.
Speaking to Edge Magazine, Satvat highlighted Japan's unique approach to retaining staff, even if it means short-term sacrifices in profit or executive compensation. He praised the industry-wide tendency of Japanese companies to keep their teams intact, with some companies boasting staff retention rates of over 97%. Notable examples mentioned include Nintendo, Konami, and Capcom.
Satvat also pointed out that Japanese teams tend to be smaller and leaner, avoiding the live-service trend and mega-blockbuster projects often associated with larger teams and higher executive salaries. While executives in Japanese companies still make significant money, they earn between two to three million dollars, which is a fraction of the 30 million dollars earned by their counterparts in North America and Western Europe.
However, it's important to note that while the executive salaries are lower in Japan, developer compensation is also considerably less. A 2019 CEDEC report found that the average salary of Japanese game developers was $37,000, compared to the high five to low six figures earned by H1-B visa applicants in the US and over $40,000 for the lowest entries in Love For Games' catalog.
Satvat estimates that the games industry is still growing, with 18,000-25,000 new job opportunities per year and an estimated 14,500 layoffs predicted for 2026. However, the industry grew by 32,000-67,000 new jobs from 2022-2026, which is a fraction of the 150,000 new job growth experienced from 2017-2021. Satvat is cautious about the future, stating that it is hard to envision a stable industry resembling the one with large, stable firms from the past.
Written by urgent.news from PC Gamer's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
