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[RetroGamingUK]

Looking at financials from the last year and there’s a big of a pattern emerging here

Capcom record highs

Capcom announces seventh consecutive year of record results | VGC

Capcom has recorded a seventh consecutive year of record-high profits, fueled by sales of the Resident Evil, Street Fighter and Dragon’s Dogma franchises.

www.videogameschronicle.com

Namco expects record full year earnings

Bandai Namco reports 188% growth in H1 video game profit, expects record full-year earnings | Game World Observer

Bandai Namco has released its financial report for the first half of FY25 ended September 30, 2024. The company posted strong revenue and profit growth, thanks to the performance of its key franchises.

gameworldobserver.com

Konami record profits increase

Konami Marks New Record With 70% Profit Increase Driven by Games | TechRaptor

Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid publisher Konami has reported record profits this year, driven largely by its video games and amusements.

techraptor.net

Now let’s see how America’s getting on

Microsoft hardware sales drop 29%

Microsoft says its revenue dropped by 7% in its Q2 2025 earnings while Xbox hardware sales dropped by 29%

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has already passed more than four million players

www.techradar.com

Electronic Arts “weak performance”

Weak Performance for ‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard,’ ‘EA Sports FC 25’ Drags Down EA’s Latest Quarterly Earnings and Full-Year Outlook

EA confirmed weak results for its latest quarterly earnings, mainly attributed to a rough start for "Dragon Age: The Veilguard" and "EA Sports FC 25."

variety.com

Warner revenue down after Suicide Squad flop

Warner Bros games revenue down 41% during Q2 due to Suicide Squad

Warner Bros' games revenue has declined 41% year-on-year, the company announced as part of its financial report for its…

www.gamesindustry.biz

 

[Banjo64]

Japan is winning because it is delivering the products that people want.

This doesn’t have to come at the expense of Western media, however Western media has been in decline for 10 years or longer at this point.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Japan’s consoles are also thriving since Microsoft removed themselves as a competitor

Nintendo Switch on course to overtake PS2 and become best selling console of all time

Why Nintendo Switch will surpass the PS2 to become the best-selling console of all time

Nintendo Switch is closing in on PS2's record-breaking total

www.theshortcut.com

PS5 has become the most profitable PlayStation is history

PS5 is Now the Most Profitable Console Generation in Sony History

A new report from Sony reveals that the PlayStation 5 has surpassed the PS4 as the company's most profitable console generation.

gamerant.com

 

[yogaflame]

Asia is winning while in the west they give more importance to twisted dei and woke agenda, and imaginary victim mentality complex which has killed, not just the gaming industry, but also movie and music industry in the west.

 

[bbeach123]

Japan , korea , china . If they dont make game people want to play others will .

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Japan is winning because it is delivering the products that people want.

Indeed, big differences with Japan this generation

- not jumping in entirely with live service fad

- games releasing in a more finished state

- game discs containing the full game with only minor bugs at worst

- avoiding woke agendas in game stories

- avoiding DEI recruitment in studios

- staff not calling white men the problem with gaming over social media

- more games that review well on rank high with Metacritic

 

[Ozriel]

I don’t know about ‘crash’. These things are cyclical and there’s no real pattern. In 2023 Hogwarts Legacy sold crazy numbers, and in 2024 Helldivers 2 sold a lot.

most of the profits last year were probably made by the Chinese Gacha guys and GameScience with Black Myth Wukong. China =/= Japan.

 

[hyperbertha]

I don’t know about ‘crash’. These things are cyclical and there’s no real pattern. In 2023 Hogwarts Legacy sold crazy numbers, and in 2024 Helldivers 2 sold a lot.

most of the profits last year were probably made by the Chinese Gacha guys and GameScience with Black Myth Wukong. China =/= Japan.

It's not 'cyclical'. The two times western industry made decent games, they sold. And it's not china. Japan has been succeeding

 

[Danjin44]

In my eyes yes, Japanese games what’s keeping my love for gaming alive.

For most part I’m almost lost interest in most western games….or maybe my taste has changed.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

It's not 'cyclical'. The two times western industry made decent games, they sold. And it's not china. Japan has been succeeding

I’d say the PS360 era was one where the western industry made great games, it benefited a lot of PC centric developers being easily able to port games to the 360 (which had a huge audience). This era seemed to end around 2017.

When was the other time? The 90s?

 

[Elog]

This is a much wider topic. In the west - generally speaking - everyone has become a talker instead of a doer (both sides of the political spectrum). We are not getting shit done, and spend all the time twisting words in the most meaningless way. Really tiresome. Most young people think about 'faking it until I am making it' instead of putting hours into something and really become good at it.

[Rant over]

 

[Ritsumei2020]

I don't know. Capcom has found a way to remake all their older games. Konami remade SH2 and soon MGS3. Namco…what has Namco released recently aside for shitty anime cash grabs?

In a way it’s European developers that seem to have capitalised more on the current clusterfuck in the US. BG3, now Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Cyberpunk, Alan Wake 2, soon GTA6. It seems these have been the games everybody has been talking about recently.

 

[winjer]

Making games that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, for an modern audience that doesn't exist, is peak incompetence in western studios.

 

[tkscz]

I don't know. Capcom has found a way to remake all their older games. Konami remade SH2 and soon MGS3. Namco…what has Namco released recently aside for shitty anime cash grabs?

In a way it’s European developers that seem to have capitalised more on the current clusterfuck in the US. BG3, now Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Cyberpunk, Alan Wake 2, soon GTA6. It seems these have been the games everybody has been talking about recently.

Ubisoft, also AW2 didn't make a profit last I remember and GTA6 is being developed in the US.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Europe’s doing OK

However Ubisoft, its biggest company, is collapsing before our eyes

Reminds me of Acclaim in the 00s

 

[Ritsumei2020]

Sure Ubisoft, but some Ubisoft games are developed in Canada, like the upcoming AC Shadow and that game enshittification seems to be more of a North American thing, rather than trying to please European demands for black representation in medieval Japan?

Edit: to be clear, nobody in Europe cares about black representation in medieval Japan. Its only there as a token of representation. This is the problem with US and North American games, it’s all about performative activism.

 

[SimTourist]

Japanese devs also have better talent retention, they have many experienced people working in companies that have been around for 20-30 years while western devs are a revolving door of temporary and contract workers which leads to the lack of experience transfer and lost knowledge.

 

[CliffBronger]

Japanese devs don't have to worry about morons from Retardera wanting to work in their gaming space.

And the Japanese don't have a modern audience to cater too.

 

[phant0m]

Bought more eastern games (not just Japan) in the last 18 mos:

Stellar Blade
Wukong
Yakuza/Like A Dragon
Tekken 8
Metaphor
SH2 Remake
NG2 Black
DQ 3 Remake
Honkai Star Rail/ZZZ

All good stuff

 

[Kotaro]

Japan, China, and South Korea

 

[StereoVsn]

China is making the most $ on Gatcha games. Devs there have been making SP games that are pretty good, and not just Wukong, but they aren’t terribly well known (again, except for Wukong).

However, Japan has been producing great games in pretty decent quantity and not focusing on modern audience they much (some shit is starting to slip in I feel).

SK has some terrible live services games, but they have started to make good SP games if not a lot of them.

There have been good games from Western studios though, and especially central Europe. BG3, Cyberpunk (after lots and lots of patching), KCD2, Owlcat’s Pathfinder and Warhammer 40K games, Hogwarts and more.

 

[Generic]

Looking at financials from the last year and there’s a big of a pattern emerging here

Capcom record highs

Capcom announces seventh consecutive year of record results | VGC

Capcom has recorded a seventh consecutive year of record-high profits, fueled by sales of the Resident Evil, Street Fighter and Dragon’s Dogma franchises.

www.videogameschronicle.com

Namco expects record full year earnings

Bandai Namco reports 188% growth in H1 video game profit, expects record full-year earnings | Game World Observer

Bandai Namco has released its financial report for the first half of FY25 ended September 30, 2024. The company posted strong revenue and profit growth, thanks to the performance of its key franchises.

gameworldobserver.com

Konami record profits increase

Konami Marks New Record With 70% Profit Increase Driven by Games | TechRaptor

Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid publisher Konami has reported record profits this year, driven largely by its video games and amusements.

techraptor.net

Now let’s see how America’s getting on

Microsoft hardware sales drop 29%

Microsoft says its revenue dropped by 7% in its Q2 2025 earnings while Xbox hardware sales dropped by 29%

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has already passed more than four million players

www.techradar.com

Electronic Arts “weak performance”

Weak Performance for ‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard,’ ‘EA Sports FC 25’ Drags Down EA’s Latest Quarterly Earnings and Full-Year Outlook

EA confirmed weak results for its latest quarterly earnings, mainly attributed to a rough start for "Dragon Age: The Veilguard" and "EA Sports FC 25."

variety.com

Warner revenue down after Suicide Squad flop

Warner Bros games revenue down 41% during Q2 due to Suicide Squad

Warner Bros' games revenue has declined 41% year-on-year, the company announced as part of its financial report for its…

www.gamesindustry.biz

Nope, the most popular games are from America. Look at the most played list of games on Playstation for example.

Boomers who don't play multiplayer games still didn't realize this.

 

[Roman Empire]

The East as a whole is winning because they are delivering better products or products the consumers want over American ones. It's that simple.

 

[Saber]

Japan is doing what game industry is supposed to do which is appease their audience.
West fails miserably because they hate their audience and would rather fall than appease them. I wish what I said was an exaggeration, but theres discussions between Saints Rows devs that they actually say they would rather let the franchise and company die than make something for gamers. That for me resumes the whole situation.

 

[navii]

Let these people tell you what's wrong with western gaming:

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Let these people tell you what's wrong with western gaming:

Fucking freaks are ten a penny in New York.

 

[Wildebeest]

Japan has real problems. Some companies might benefit from a cheaper yen.

 

[Fake]

Is already proved that make or create a game with modern audience as a target is a recipe for failure.

And we can only thank gaming journalists that tried from time to time not only saying we are wrong, but probably get paid by big coorps to deny must of the stuff that annoy consumers.

Not only western gaming are in colapse, but also game sites like IGN and Gamespot are in trouble because of this mismatch information regards the game their review.

And for me is a good thing that consumers are getting tired of buying those political games and are doing their homework before trying to think about buy a game, by seeing streamers playing the game.

And they don't need to do this research about Japanese games because most of the time they are either good or fun.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Ubisoft, also AW2 didn't make a profit last I remember and GTA6 is being developed in the US.

GTA is made at rockstar north in Scotland bro.

 

[Team Andromeda]

What a joke of a thread

 

[Idleyes]

Japan benefits from a stronger commitment to product quality, better talent retention, and less reliance on exploitative live-service models, something the U.S. gaming industry, by comparison, has struggled with due to shareholder-driven decisions and corporate consolidation.

TLDR - They benefit from the work they do, not from the work that US companies refuse to do.

 

[Elios83]

There are some cyclical elements to these things.
Japan for example suffered a lot during the years of the HD transition and they didn't know how to make games efficiently anymore.
Now some western publishers (clearly not all of them and certainly not all the western games), are struggling but there are multiple reasons behind it.
The biggest reason is that the fear of rising costs, lack of growth and risks of failure have paralyzed them.
Executives were blinded by the promised land of gaas but failed to realize that this is a really exclusive circle to try to get into and the risks are super high.
Then western publishers certainly went through the same DEI/woke period that Hollywood went into, at first it seemed a good idea to get good reputation points but at some point they let this stuff take central seat over freedom of creativity and the public has just become fed up and want to see something different, so a new cycle is beginning.

 

[Mr Moose]

China and Korea, too.

 

[SimTourist]

GTA is made at rockstar north in Scotland bro.

No, these days all Rockstar substudios around the world work on the current project, same for RDR2.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Not only western gaming are in colapse, but also game sites like IGN and Gamespot are in trouble because of this mismatch information regards the game their review.

Yup, utter shambles

 

[Fbh]

I think in a way China and Korea have benefited more.
Japanese games were already well liked and successful in the west before this gen. They already have an established presence in the global market and benefit from exploiting well known IP (RE, Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, Persona, Souls, etc)

But the lacking western industry has left a void that new studios from places like Korea and China have been able to fill, allowing them to set a foothold in the larger market.
I'm no saying games like Wukong or Stellar Blade wouldn't have been successful anyway, but having to "only" compete with Japanese games instead of Japanese games and western games surely made it at least a bit easier to stand out.

 

[Interfectum]

America is in a massive slump and China, Japan and Korea are benefiting. Chinese devs are doing laps around these soft DEI hires in the west.

 

[ReBurn]

Japan’s consoles are also thriving since Microsoft removed themselves as a competitor

Nintendo Switch on course to overtake PS2 and become best selling console of all time

Why Nintendo Switch will surpass the PS2 to become the best-selling console of all time

Nintendo Switch is closing in on PS2's record-breaking total

www.theshortcut.com

PS5 has become the most profitable PlayStation is history

PS5 is Now the Most Profitable Console Generation in Sony History

A new report from Sony reveals that the PlayStation 5 has surpassed the PS4 as the company's most profitable console generation.

gamerant.com

Are you implying that Japan's consoles weren't thriving before Microsoft removed themselves as a hardware competitor? Because they were thriving well before Microsoft's relatively recent pivot away from their own hardware.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Are you implying that Japan's consoles weren't thriving before Microsoft removed themselves as a hardware competitor? Because they were thriving well before Microsoft's relatively recent pivot away from their own hardware.

PS3 and Wii U were struggling while Xbox and America’s gaming industry was at its height.

I’m not saying Xbox’s collapse is the cause of their recent success, but it’s clearly a factor to an extent.

 

[KiteGr]

The biggest victor is China.

They managed to get and find fans in the gaming industry at a time when we would normally be worried about anything from their dictatorial country, especially now they are about to invade another.
The west fucking it up with their woke movement gave them a free chance for a win.

 

[Kacho]

Japanese games made a huge comeback during the mid-to-late PS4/XBO generation. That’s when they cracked the code on HD game development. Now that they don’t have to worry about “HD towns r hard” they can deliver on what they do best — quality gameplay.

 

[SHAKEZ]

Western games for me are just indies and AA games, AAA games nowadays are either a vehicle for greed or identity politics.

 

[Idleyes]

There are some cyclical elements to these things.
Japan for example suffered a lot during the years of the HD transition and they didn't know how to make games efficiently anymore.
Now some western publishers (clearly not all of them and certainly not all the western games), are struggling but there are multiple reasons behind it.
The biggest reason is that the fear of rising costs, lack of growth and risks of failure have paralyzed them.
Executives were blinded by the promised land of gaas but failed to realize that this is a really exclusive circle to try to get into and the risks are super high.
Then western publishers certainly went through the same DEI/woke period that Hollywood went into, at first it seemed a good idea to get good reputation points but at some point they let this stuff take central seat over freedom of creativity and the public has just become fed up and want to see something different, so a new cycle is beginning.

I was with you until you brought up the DEI nonsense. I don’t conflate bad storytelling with DEI policies, something most people who complain about it don’t even fully understand, because the truth is, poorly written characters and stories exist regardless of diversity efforts. Bad writing is just bad writing.

Kna mean? Games like Baldur’s Gate 3, God of War, and Cyberpunk 2077 are proof that diversity and inclusivity don’t ruin storytelling. These games have been massively successful despite incorporating different relationships and perspectives organically, because it's done without making it feel forced or performative.

 

[mdkirby]

I voted yes, but its phrased wrong is should be 'Asia' not Japan.

 

[Paasei]

The market in Asia is just making games people actually want to play. Also no cuts all over cause they are afraid they might offend some random fuck on twitter.

 

[Elios83]

I was with you until you brought up the DEI nonsense. I don’t conflate bad storytelling with DEI policies, something most people who complain about it don’t even fully understand, because the truth is, poorly written characters and stories exist regardless of diversity efforts. Bad writing is just bad writing.

Kna mean? Games like Baldur’s Gate 3, God of War, and Cyberpunk 2077 are proof that diversity and inclusivity don’t ruin storytelling. These games have been massively successful despite incorporating different relationships and perspectives organically, because it's done without making it feel forced or performative.

I actually don't think that DEI stuff necessarily ruins storytelling and there is no place for it in games, the most important thing as you say is that they're part of a clear creative vision where they make sense and feel natural.
My point is very practical, there is (was?) a trend where everyone has been doing this stuff for a few years.
If you eat the same thing everyday even if it's cooked well people become completely fed up and don't want to hear about it anymore.
This is the cyclical aspect I was talking about, if people for a few years are mostly allowed to see female lead characters in every game, with the forced multiracial, multigender cast for the sake of it at some point it's only natural that the public will go "ok enough, I want to see something else". Trend is over, Hollywood went through this phase earlier than gaming and reached the same conclusion like we have seen with companies like Disney.

 

[mdkirby]

I was with you until you brought up the DEI nonsense. I don’t conflate bad storytelling with DEI policies, something most people who complain about it don’t even fully understand, because the truth is, poorly written characters and stories exist regardless of diversity efforts. Bad writing is just bad writing.

Kna mean? Games like Baldur’s Gate 3, God of War, and Cyberpunk 2077 are proof that diversity and inclusivity don’t ruin storytelling. These games have been massively successful despite incorporating different relationships and perspectives organically, because it's done without making it feel forced or performative.

Frankly most games have bad or subpar writing, but is generally tolerable. DEI is such an issues because it requires nuance, subtlety and talent (ie being a good writer) to do representation/diversity without it being hamfisted in your face preaching. It very much can be done well, such as your examples of Baldurs Gate, and Cyberpunk (id argue it wasn't done great in GOW personally). Cyberpunk was exceptional for it. Unfortunately DEI policy influencing storytelling became so ubiquitous in recent years, and in so many games, but so so few teams have the writing chops to do it well. This is why it has become such a big issue for many gamers. It would be no different if a majority of games suddenly became about preaching anti abortion, god, and gun rights etc, ie issues the right care about. Sure, some would make games that pull it off, but the overwhelming majority would fail at it, and large audiences would become sick of it (even if they agree with it). Prigs are prigs, and crap writers are crap writers regardless political ideology.

 

[Horseganador]

Japan has found a better balance in development costs, there is no need to go for top graphics, as long as it is good enough it is fine and they can focus more on gameplay.

 

[ReBurn]

PS3 and Wii U were struggling while Xbox and America’s gaming industry was at its height.

I’m not saying Xbox’s collapse is the cause of their recent success, but it’s clearly a factor to an extent.

PS3 and Wii U weren't struggling because of Xbox 360, though. They struggled because of mistakes Sony and Nintendo made. Sony released at an abnormally high price with hardware that was initially difficult to develop for. Nintendo released hardware that confused customers. Xbox at the time was the beneficiary of those mistakes.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

PS3 and Wii U weren't struggling because of Xbox 360, though. They struggled because of mistakes Sony and Nintendo made. Sony released at an abnormally high price with hardware that was initially difficult to develop for. Nintendo released hardware that confused customers. Xbox at the time was the beneficiary of those mistakes.

True, but Microsoft got a lot right under Peter Moore’s leadership