Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) recently announced that it would provide a total of 1.5 billion yen (roughly $92.7 million USD) in subsidies to live-service game developer DeNA, best known for their recent mobile hit Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket. According to The Nikkei, the initiative is aimed at supporting DeNA’s mobile development business and encouraging the creation of large-scale content with the potential for global success.
Apparently, this comes as DeNA was chosen to be a part of the Japanese government’s IP360 program, which is meant to provide funding for the creation of new domestic IPs, and boost the competitiveness of Japan’s content industry in the global market. Specifically, DeNA was listed as one of the companies selected for the first round of subsidies in the category of “general support for large-scale production,” alongside major developers like SEGA, Konami, Square Enix, Koei Tecmo and Arc System Works.
However, shortly after its publication, METI’s announcement concerning DeNA was met with a wave of criticism on the Japanese side of X. While the IP360 project is set to support indie developers as well, with grants of up to 10 million yen ($62,000 USD ), it seems like many Japanese users have taken issue with how government money is being allocated, sparking a debate on whether such an investment is truly necessary for a major, company like DeNA.
Huh, why? The National Museum is doing crowdfunding, so if you have that kind of money, why don’t you stop trying to make the museum turn a profit and just start supporting it instead.
Why are our taxes flowing out to major companies that aren’t even struggling when it comes to capital? This is what they’re doing while cutting the budgets for public museums and art galleries. If DeNA’s mobile games actually do sell, what do we gain from that? It’s just a private company gaining even more profit.
Hiroyuki Nishimura, the founder of 2channel and the current owner of 4chan, also commented: “In an age where solo-developed indie games are becoming increasingly popular, the Japanese government is pouring 1.5 billion yen into a publicly-listed mobile game developer.”
Many Japanese users argued that DeNA is a privately-owned company, and that the government is essentially using people’s tax money “to fund mobile games,” while neglecting publicly owned cultural institutions like museums, galleries and universities.
Others contended that if the government has billions to spend on major companies, it should instead pour those funds into supporting the country’s up-and-coming solo and indie developers. “With this kind of approach, it looks less like they are trying to nurture new talents, and more like this is going to make strong companies even stronger,” one user wrote.
On the other hand, those actually working in the game industry provided a different perspective on the situation. In a recent post, Indie-us Games representative alwei explained that in reality, it’s extremely difficult for small and indie developers to get such substantial government funding. Big companies that have stable sales and significant achievements are much more likely to have their subsidy applications approved.
But when it comes to indie developers, there is a high risk that they will not be able take responsibility if their project ends up failing after receiving such a huge subsidy. Subsidies in general have much stricter application conditions compared to grants, and are usually paid after the project is completed, making them unsuitable for individual creators, alwei suggests.
