https://automaton-media.com/en/news/ AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo. Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:04:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://automaton-media.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-automaton-sitelogo-120x120-1-32x32.png https://automaton-media.com/en/news/ 32 32 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/almost-90-of-japanese-people-dislike-random-and-blind-bag-merch-but-the-majority-still-buys-it-large-scale-survey-shows/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/almost-90-of-japanese-people-dislike-random-and-blind-bag-merch-but-the-majority-still-buys-it-large-scale-survey-shows/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:00:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65410 A study by Hamaru Strategy surveyed over 35 thousand Japanese consumers on their opinions of random/blind-buy merch.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/almost-90-of-japanese-people-dislike-random-and-blind-bag-merch-but-the-majority-still-buys-it-large-scale-survey-shows/feed/ 0 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/making-it-technically-work-and-making-it-actually-enjoyable-as-a-game-are-different-things-japanese-devs-weigh-in-on-why-retrofitting-live-service-games-with-offline-suppo/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/making-it-technically-work-and-making-it-actually-enjoyable-as-a-game-are-different-things-japanese-devs-weigh-in-on-why-retrofitting-live-service-games-with-offline-suppo/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:00:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65405 This comes amidst controversy surrounding the unofficial "offline version" of Square Enix's NieR Reincarnation.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/making-it-technically-work-and-making-it-actually-enjoyable-as-a-game-are-different-things-japanese-devs-weigh-in-on-why-retrofitting-live-service-games-with-offline-suppo/feed/ 2 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/bunny-garden-2-debuts-as-japans-number-one-top-selling-game-on-both-steam-and-switch/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/bunny-garden-2-debuts-as-japans-number-one-top-selling-game-on-both-steam-and-switch/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:04:46 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65421 Japanese developer qureate announces that their new game Bunny Garden 2 debuted as top -seller on both Steam and Nintendo Switch. ]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/bunny-garden-2-debuts-as-japans-number-one-top-selling-game-on-both-steam-and-switch/feed/ 0 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/unity-employees-in-korea-protest-over-alleged-underhanded-restructuring-tactics/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/unity-employees-in-korea-protest-over-alleged-underhanded-restructuring-tactics/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65414 This comes after the company downsized from 230 to 120 employees.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/unity-employees-in-korea-protest-over-alleged-underhanded-restructuring-tactics/feed/ 0 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japans-foreign-affairs-minister-criticizes-white-house-over-unauthorized-use-of-nintendo-gameplay-footage-in-iran-war-campaign-video-on-x/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japans-foreign-affairs-minister-criticizes-white-house-over-unauthorized-use-of-nintendo-gameplay-footage-in-iran-war-campaign-video-on-x/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 04:53:35 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65399 Minister Toshimitsu Motegi recently criticized the White House for unauthorized use of Nintendo's clips on their X account. ]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japans-foreign-affairs-minister-criticizes-white-house-over-unauthorized-use-of-nintendo-gameplay-footage-in-iran-war-campaign-video-on-x/feed/ 1 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-man-gets-prison-sentence-and-million-yen-fine-for-writing-monetized-spoiler-heavy-summaries-of-movies-and-anime/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-man-gets-prison-sentence-and-million-yen-fine-for-writing-monetized-spoiler-heavy-summaries-of-movies-and-anime/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2026 03:03:30 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65390 A Japanese website admin was recently charged with violating the Copyright Act for posting summary articles of the Overlord anime series and Godzilla films.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-man-gets-prison-sentence-and-million-yen-fine-for-writing-monetized-spoiler-heavy-summaries-of-movies-and-anime/feed/ 1 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/a-prefecture-in-japan-will-offer-single-people-money-to-use-matchmaking-apps/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/a-prefecture-in-japan-will-offer-single-people-money-to-use-matchmaking-apps/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:00:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65359 Kochi prefecture, which launched the initiative, is one of the least populous prefectures in Japan.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/a-prefecture-in-japan-will-offer-single-people-money-to-use-matchmaking-apps/feed/ 1 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/square-enix-partners-with-ai-manga-translation-company-to-automate-typesetting-process-which-takes-3000-of-hours-of-manual-work-a-year/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/square-enix-partners-with-ai-manga-translation-company-to-automate-typesetting-process-which-takes-3000-of-hours-of-manual-work-a-year/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:00:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65346 By delegating routine tasks to the AI-powered Mantra Engine, Square Enix hopes to streamline the manga editing process.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/square-enix-partners-with-ai-manga-translation-company-to-automate-typesetting-process-which-takes-3000-of-hours-of-manual-work-a-year/feed/ 2 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/disgaea-series-creator-and-former-nis-ceo-lets-game-companies-hire-him-as-a-shared-producer-for-the-cost-of-a-new-graduates-salary/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/disgaea-series-creator-and-former-nis-ceo-lets-game-companies-hire-him-as-a-shared-producer-for-the-cost-of-a-new-graduates-salary/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65342 In between of developing games at his new company SuperNiche, Sohei Niikawa has been active as a "shared" producer in the industry for dirt cheap.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/disgaea-series-creator-and-former-nis-ceo-lets-game-companies-hire-him-as-a-shared-producer-for-the-cost-of-a-new-graduates-salary/feed/ 1 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/metal-slug-devs-modern-revival-of-forgotten-monster-taming-rpg-navinosuke-will-add-togglable-quest-and-objective-markers-to-the-game-if-we-dont-add-them-people-will-get-an/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/metal-slug-devs-modern-revival-of-forgotten-monster-taming-rpg-navinosuke-will-add-togglable-quest-and-objective-markers-to-the-game-if-we-dont-add-them-people-will-get-an/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65369 Metal Slug artist Akio shares update on the dev progress of Navinosuke: The Yo-Kai Buster, revealing some "polarizing" new QOL updates. ]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/metal-slug-devs-modern-revival-of-forgotten-monster-taming-rpg-navinosuke-will-add-togglable-quest-and-objective-markers-to-the-game-if-we-dont-add-them-people-will-get-an/feed/ 1 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japans-biggest-ghost-developer-known-for-working-for-atlus-and-square-enix-sees-significant-growth-in-console-sector-following-shift-away-from-mobile-games/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japans-biggest-ghost-developer-known-for-working-for-atlus-and-square-enix-sees-significant-growth-in-console-sector-following-shift-away-from-mobile-games/#respond Thu, 16 Apr 2026 08:59:59 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65374 Tose recently announced its financial results for the second quarter of the current fiscal year, reporting significant growth in sales.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japans-biggest-ghost-developer-known-for-working-for-atlus-and-square-enix-sees-significant-growth-in-console-sector-following-shift-away-from-mobile-games/feed/ 0 https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-crowdfunding-platform-that-allegedly-ran-off-with-more-than-half-of-ishii-jiros-340k-game-budget-suddenly-becomes-inaccessible/ https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-crowdfunding-platform-that-allegedly-ran-off-with-more-than-half-of-ishii-jiros-340k-game-budget-suddenly-becomes-inaccessible/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:04:00 +0000 https://automaton-media.com/en/?p=65334 After leaving the developers of Shibuya Scramble Stories with half of their raised funds missing, Ubgoe has mysteriously become unavailable.]]> https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japanese-crowdfunding-platform-that-allegedly-ran-off-with-more-than-half-of-ishii-jiros-340k-game-budget-suddenly-becomes-inaccessible/feed/ 1