There’s been ongoing discourse among Japanese industry professionals and freelancers this week about how difficult it is to get hired by game companies, prompted by an upcoming publication on the topic. Amidst the discussion, one artist shared the “harsh reality” they witnessed when working at a major domestic developer, garnering a lot of surprised and disheartened reactions on X.
Noriba, who now works as a manga author, wrote on February 2, “When I used to work at a major game company, I remember thinking how brutal it was to be an illustrator. There were about 100 illustrators, but there were only 2 lead artists among them, and the remaining 98 people were essentially there to mass-produce art based on the two leads’ work. Incidentally, one of the two lead artists was a freshly graduated new hire who’d only joined the company a few months prior. They were insanely talented.”
Noriba added that their post isn’t meant to mock the “98 artists” or diminish the type of work they were doing by any means. On the contrary, they say that even these artists were “the cream of the crop, who’d beaten out thousands of applicants” to join the company. The implication is that competition in the industry is so intense that even the most skilled artists have slim chances of landing positions that will grant them creative/stylistic authority. Additionally, since assets like experience and mileage can easily be trumped by the raw skills of a newcomer, simply powering through the less glamorous work does not guarantee you’ll eventually “get there.”
On the other hand, a Japanese illustrator who describes themselves as “a subcontractor positioned even lower than those 98 artists” shared some interesting insights in response to Noriba’s post, offering a more optimistic outlook.
“If seeing this story made you feel hesitant about becoming a company-employed illustrator, listen to this first,” they said. The artist, who goes by Kimiori, explains that there are major benefits to seeking work at companies as an artist, even if (or especially if) you plan to go freelance at some point.
This has to do with establishing connections in the industry. Kimiori explains that when game companies look for freelancers to hire, they will first and foremost contact former employees who went solo. If that fails, they’ll ask other companies for referrals. Only if these two channels fail will they look elsewhere for new candidates. “Former employees understand the workflow, and there’s already trust established, so they’re a reassuring option,” they comment.
“For example, even if you want to work on, say, Pokémon projects, aside from hiring famous artists for publicity purposes, most outsourcing will go to former employees. (They do hold contests, but these are also part of advertising campaigns and not regular commissions.)”
Based on this experience, Kimiori advises aspiring artists to look for work at companies whose projects they wish to work on, regardless of whether they get assigned more menial types of work or projects they’re not fond of. “You’ll still have a much better chance than a freelancer with no connections.”
