Fontworks LETS, a commercial font service used by hundreds of Japanese game developers – big and small – did a 180 on its users last month, replacing its affordable game integration licenses that cost $380 a year with plans totaling to upwards of $20,500 a year. Monotype, the US-based company that owns the service, has since backtracked on these changes somewhat, temporarily letting developers extend their old licenses. However, widespread dissatisfaction over the multi-fold price hike has brought attention to internal issues allegedly going on at the company – which could possibly be to blame for the seemingly short-sighted decisions they’re making.
Monotype Imaging acquired the Japanese company Fontworks in 2023, after which Fontworks was formally renamed to Monotype KK. Fontworks originally offered LETS (Leading Edge Type Solution), an annual subscription service for integrating high-quality Japanese typefaces into games (used in the likes of Persona 5, NieR:Automata and Fate/Grand Order). Following the acquisition, Monotype continued providing contracts and renewals for the service for a while, but in September 2025, the company announced that license plans related to game and app integration would no longer be renewable from the end of November the same year.
Following outrage over the proposed $20,500-dollar alternative, some Japanese users began looking into the management structure of Monotype Imaging. Originally a publicly traded company, Monotype was acquired by the private equity firm HGGC in October 2019 and subsequently privatized. It went on to acquire Fontsmith, URW Type Foundry, and Hoefler & Co., accumulating the rights to many famous typefaces. Finally, it also acquired Fontworks in 2023, further expanding its catalogue.
The internal state of Monotype Imaging has been reported on several occasions by employee Mayur Pahwa. For example, in September, it was revealed (based on internal emails and employee testimony) that layoffs far larger than officially disclosed had taken place, causing unrest within the company. These “secretive layoffs” were said to be ongoing, which fueled distrust among employees.
Behind these layoffs, Monotype Imaging appears to have heavily invested in AI technology. The company has repeatedly published research on AI-assisted tools meant for the publishing and design industries, allegedly pouring substantial funds and resources into the effort. But according to testimony relayed by Pahwa, the company “burned millions but got nothing” out of it. The implication is that layoffs were used to compensate for these failures.
In recent years, Monotype Imaging has tended to grow primarily through acquiring font rights, but has struggled to come up with market-leading, original products or services. According to Pahwa, HGGC (the parent company) has attempted to sell Monotype Imaging multiple times. However, prospective buyers saw the company not as a business with growth potential but as a collection of assets (font rights), and talks fell through.
The company’s push for AI appears to have been an attempt to remedy the situation, but that too seems to have failed, leading to the ongoing layoffs. Pahwa reports that within the company, there is a growing sense that management is prioritizing short-term financial merit over long-term strategy or employee well-being. He has continued to report on the situation, including details of the layoffs and concerns within the design community about Monotype Imaging’s near “monopoly” over fonts.
Given this background, some speculate that the sudden changes to the Fontworks LETS program (which was described as an effort to “align with global standards”) may also be tied to the parent company’s deteriorating financial condition. Considering it’s a private company, we can only glimpse at Monotype Imaging’s business situation through internal accounts such as Pahwa’s, so this remains conjecture.
What’s clear is that terminating these license options and forcing Japanese developers to migrate to a service costing effectively tens of times more is unlikely to help retain customers over the long term. And as a company that now holds rights to many major fonts, there is concern over Monotype continuing to make these kinds of aggressive, short-term decisions.
wwooooooow
Ah yes, punish your customers for your poor decisions, that’ll keep you afloat. Typical behavior for private equity firms. Smells like yet another PE antitrust suit in the making, tho at that price there is plenty of room for digital artists to enter the market.
Aren’t there a ton of completely legible fonts that people could use for free, instead of paying into whatever this mess is? Not only free, but free to use commercially, and aesthetically on par?
The Noto ones from Google, or the brush style Kouzan fonts, for example. I’m baffled people would still be paying a subscription to use fonts in the first place, honestly, but that may just be me. Regardless, there are quality, free alternatives out there, thankfully.
I honestly can’t wait for this AI tech bubble to burst.
I studied it for my degree and was amazed at the beneficial applications it could be used for.
Now all I see is a tidal wave of AI slop content on social media, reports of communities getting their water services redirected towards cooling for AI mills, data centres using more fossil fuel powered generators than they’re permitted to keep the algorithms churning and now the consumer market for computer components is being affected by price hikes due to shortages in resources and because they know AI startups will happily pay more.
I would never have predicted fonts for games to be a victim of the AI fad, but here we are. I hope everyone who invests in AI for profit loses every penny.