Indie games have the highest growth potential in the Japanese “otaku market” in 2026, study suggests
According to Yano Institute's "otaku" market survey, indie games are expected to have the highest fiscal growth rate in Japan in 2026.
VERACITY IN GAMING
VERACITY IN GAMING
Carlos "Zoto" Zotomayor
Automaton West writer. Zoto has been playing video games for 30+ years now but has only recently come to grips with PC gaming. When he isn't playing video games, he watches romance anime and gets mad when his best girl never wins.
Monster Hunter Wilds’ buying price drops to $0.11 USD in Japanese used goods store
The Monster Hunter Wilds' listing on the Japanese used goods store Kaitori World currently stands at 18 yen - approximately $0.11 USD.
Needy Streamer Overload devs’ new supernatural “little sister” visual novel gets over 10,000 Steam Wishlists on its first day
Sister Other Paranoia, Naylra's first visual novel under HazeDenkiis set to release in August 2026 on Steam.
AI-generated isekai novel that won a literary contest Grand Prize and Reader’s Choice award has its book publication and manga adaptation cancelled
Contest-winning AI novel loses physical publication and manga adaptation after guidelines were updated to ban AI-generated works.
Hitachi launches multilingual “intuitive” voice command recognition software for Nintendo Switch 2 game devs
Hitachi launched the Ruby Spotter voice command recognition software for Nintendo Switch 2 game developers.
Square Enix bans posting certain parts of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined for a month after the demo’s launch, with strict guidelines on spoilers
Square Enix recently announced their materials usage guidelines to prevent spoiling the story of Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined.
Danganronpa creator became a game dev because of an argument he had while working part-time that made him think “What am I doing with my life”
Danganronpa and The Hundred Line creator Kazutaka Kodaka reminisces on an encounter that made him return to the video game industry.
Code Vein 2’s Japanese version will not keep the term “Revenants,” but the overseas versions will remain the same, says director
Code Vein II director says that "Revenants" in the domestic version of the game will be renamed due to the series' lore being refreshed.
Street Fighter 6’s latest fighting pass trailer hints at possible returning characters and summer costumes
Street Fighter 6's newest fighting pass trailer showcasing sports-themed outfits is prompting fans to theorize about possible future content.
AI-generated manga becomes top-ranked in Japan’s biggest e-book store
An Ai-generated manga has recently been topping "Japan's biggest e-book store" Comic C'moA's Young Adult charts.
Most of Silent Hill f’s Japanese cast are now streaming the game following Konatsu Kato’s iconic playthrough, with Hinako’s mom and dad joining in on the trend
The newest members to join in on the Silent Hill f livestream trend are the actor and actress who portrayed Hinako’s father and mother.
ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs paints a quaint picture of life as a repairman in 2000s Tokyo. Here are our demo impressions
Our first impressions of the Steam demo for ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs.