Former Sony executive and video game industry veteran Shuhei Yoshida recently attended WePlay Expo 2025, one of the biggest indie game events in China. In an interview with 4Gamer, he talked about his impression of the Chinese video game industry after seeing it up close, and pointed out some differences he’s noticed compared to the game industry in Japan.
“The development speed in China is amazing. They’re also quick at changing personnel, and all of the game development work itself unfolds rapidly,” Yoshida remarked. The large production scale of Chinese games has been a hot topic among Japanese creators, and even seasoned industry veterans like Yoshida seem to agree when it comes to specific fields like animation.
Reminiscing on his past encounters with Genshin Impact developer miHoYo, the former executive suggested that Japan still has a long way to go to match the scope and speed of Chinese development.
“Back when I talked to representatives of miHoYo, we discussed how it would be quite difficult for Japanese developers to make games in the same way miHoYo does. Not to mention the legal problems that would come with it,” said Yoshida. “I wonder if there are some aspects [of the development process] that Japanese game developers just can’t replicate. One reason why games in China are so strong is because they are made in an environment which allows for hiring a large number of personnel who can work long hours. Of course, you never know what might happen in the near future, but looking at the current state of things, I think that’s the biggest factor.”
Last month, HoYoverse announced Varsapura, their brand-new title built in Unreal Engine 5. Yoshida praised the company’s work, theorizing that this could be miHoYo’s attempt to see how far they can take a realistic, “high-end” title, breaking away from their tradition of anime-styled games like Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail. He also suggested that business-wise, projects like Varsapura are miHoYo’s way of staying ahead in the industry. “Other Chinese developers and even Korean developers are releasing ‘miHoYo-like games,’ but it feels like miHoYo is aiming to be one step ahead of them.”
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