Japanese game companies’ hiring power has suddenly declined, according to industry recruitment agency 

Silicon Studio, a company that provides HR services for major Japanese developers, reported on January 14 that revenue from their recruitment sector has fallen sharply due to game companies suddenly hiring a lot less (source: GameBiz). For reference, Silicon Studio is currently running recruitment campaigns for developers like Capcom, Atlus, Kojima Productions, Konami and Monolith Soft. 

The company first reported a palpable change in the industry back in October last year, when the reduced hiring power of game companies contributed to a 40% drop in revenue in their recruitment sector. This report was based on the nine months from December 2023 to August 2024, but the situation doesn’t seem to have changed much since then.  

In their new earnings report for the full fiscal year, Silicon Studio remarks that “The recruitment sector saw a decrease in sales and revenue due to a decline in hiring caused by the sudden deterioration of market conditions in the gaming industry as a whole.” Interestingly, the report also highlights that Silicon Studio saw a slight increase in game companies hiring temporary workers (up 2.9% year-on-year), while employment contracts declined by 31.3% year-on-year.