{"id":63443,"date":"2026-03-19T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=63443"},"modified":"2026-03-18T18:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T09:31:08","slug":"worked-in-the-industry-for-10-years-with-nothing-to-show-for-it-japanese-creators-discuss-the-harsh-reality-of-working-on-cancelled-game-projects-as-freelancers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/worked-in-the-industry-for-10-years-with-nothing-to-show-for-it-japanese-creators-discuss-the-harsh-reality-of-working-on-cancelled-game-projects-as-freelancers\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWorked in the industry for 10 years with nothing to show for it.\u201d Japanese creators discuss the harsh reality of working on cancelled game projects as freelancers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>With Steam seeing record numbers of released games in 2025, one could say that the current game market is more \u201cabundant\u201d than ever before (though your mileage may vary). However, more games means greater competition, and almost half of over 19,000 titles released on the platform didn\u2019t manage to secure more than 10 reviews (source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/gaming-industry\/more-than-19-000-games-launched-on-steam-this-year-but-almost-half-have-fewer-than-10-reviews\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">PCGamer<\/a>). And there\u2019s probably even more titles in the works that have never seen (or will never see) the light of day due to various development circumstances, budget constraints and the increasingly competitive market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inspired by a recent viral post discussing the instability of game projects, numerous Japanese creators and devs working in the scene as freelancers decided to share their experiences with the issue, explaining how the inevitable cancellations impact their careers in the long-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u958b\u767a\u306f\u672c\u5f53\u306b\u5927\u5909\u306a\u3093\u3088<br>\u81ea\u5206\u306f\u30d5\u30ea\u30fc\u306b\u306a\u3063\u3066\u304b\u3089\u30e1\u30a4\u30f3\u3067\u95a2\u308f\u3063\u305f\u4f5c\u54c1\u4eca\u307e\u30673\u672c\u304f\u3089\u3044\u9014\u4e2d\u3067\u7121\u304f\u306a\u3063\u3066\u308b<\/p>&mdash; lack (@lalalalack) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lalalalack\/status\/2033384523652886786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 16, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-palette-color-5-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><em>Translation:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Game development is really tough.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ever since I went freelance, three of the projects I was mainly involved with got cancelled midway.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u3068\u3042\u308b\u30a4\u30e9\u30b9\u30c8\u30ec\u30fc\u30bf\u30fc(\u304a\u305d\u3089\u304flack\u5148\u751f\u3082\u304a\u77e5\u308a\u5408\u3044\u306e\u65b9)\u304c\u914d\u4fe1\u3067\u3001\u300c\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u306e\u30ad\u30e3\u30e9\u30c7\u30b6\u306f\u82e5\u3044\u30a4\u30e9\u30b9\u30c8\u30ec\u30fc\u30bf\u30fc\u306e\u5834\u5408\u3001\u30ea\u30bd\u30fc\u30b9\u5168\u90e8\u7a81\u3063\u8fbc\u3093\u3067\u308b\u3053\u3068\u3082\u3042\u308b\u304b\u3089\u30d7\u30ed\u30b8\u30a7\u30af\u30c8\u304c\u9813\u632b\u3059\u308b\u3068\u305d\u306e\u9593\u306e\u30ad\u30e3\u30ea\u30a2\u304c\u5168\u90e8\u7121\u304f\u306a\u308b\u304b\u3089\u306d\u30fc\u300d\u3068\u304a\u3063\u3057\u3083\u3063\u3066\u3066\u3059\u3054\u3044\u4e16\u754c\u3060\u306a\u3001\u3068\u601d\u3044\u307e\u3057\u305f<\/p>&mdash; \u30b7\u30e5\u30fc\u30d7\u30e9 (@shoe_pla) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shoe_pla\/status\/2033387048368054672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 16, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-palette-color-5-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><em>Translation:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>One illustrator said in a recent stream: \u201cWhen a young illustrator works as a game\u2019s character designer, they tend to pour all of their resources into the project, which means that practically their whole career vanishes if said project gets cancelled,\u201d which made me think, wow, what a world we live in.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The greatest problem for freelance artists which arises when projects get cancelled is that what could be years of work all comes down to zero. Since the game never gets to see the light of day as a finished product, this results in a huge gap in their portfolios, making it tougher to smoothly hop onto the next project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">A\u300c\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u696d\u754c\u6b7410\u5e74\u3067\u3059\u300d<br>B\u300c\u3078\u3047\u3002\u4ee3\u8868\u4f5c\u306f\u306a\u3093\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f\u300d<br>A\u300c\u7121\u3044\u3067\u3059\u300d<br>B\u300c\u7121\u3044\u3063\u3066\u307e\u305f\u307e\u305f\u3002\u30ea\u30ea\u30fc\u30b9\u3057\u305f\u306e\u306f\u4f55\u672c\uff1f\u300d<br>A\u300c0\u672c\u300d<br>B\u300c\u2026\u202610\u5e74\u3067\uff1f\u300d<br>A\u300c0\u672c\u300d<br><br>\u304c\u3042\u308b\u4e16\u754c\u306a\u306e\u3067\u2026\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SietalFbpT\">https:\/\/t.co\/SietalFbpT<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u3060\u3089\u306d\u3053@\u500b\u4eba\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u958b\u767a\u8005 (@daranekogames) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/daranekogames\/status\/2033505584843264206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 16, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-palette-color-5-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><em>Translation:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>We live in a world where this kind of stuff happens:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A: I\u2019ve worked in the game industry for 10 years<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>B: Oh? What\u2019s your most famous work?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A: I\u2019ve got none.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>B: Ah, here you go again\u2026 How many have you released so far?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A: Zero.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>B: In ten years?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A: Zero.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Daraneko, solo-developer of \u201cVery Positive\u201d-rated JRPG <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1483370\/The_Use_of_Life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Use of Life<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/daranekogames\/status\/2033508036887851334?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explains<\/a> that, while indie creators might have more control over what they do, the career of freelancers working for corporate developers is, more than anything, based on sheer luck. \u201cNo matter how hard you try, if a game can\u2019t be released, it just can\u2019t be released.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of which, NieR and Drakengard series creator <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/nier-automata-creator-yoko-taro-says-hes-actually-been-working-on-a-lot-of-projects-recently-its-just-that-they-got-cancelled-midway\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yoko Taro has previously said that he had been facing similar problems<\/a>. Addressing criticism that he \u201chasn\u2019t been working on anything\u201d in the past years, the game director explained that he has actually been quite busy with projects recently, it\u2019s just that most of them ended up getting discontinued midway through development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even big names like Capcom have witnessed a fair share of cancellations, and according to the company\u2019s ex producer Shintaro Kojima, even Monster Hunter was on the chopping block at one point in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"ja\" dir=\"ltr\">\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u4f5c\u308a\u5927\u5909\u3001\u958b\u767a\u4e2d\u6b62\u95a2\u9023\u306e\u30dd\u30b9\u30c8\u3092\u898b\u3066\u601d\u3044\u51fa\u3057\u305f\u3002<br>\u5f53\u305f\u308a\u524d\u3060\u3051\u3069\u3001\u30ab\u30d7\u30b3\u30f3\u3082\u4e16\u306b\u51fa\u3059\u4e8b\u306a\u304f\u9014\u4e2d\u3067\u4e2d\u6b62\u306b\u306a\u3063\u305f\u30b2\u30fc\u30e0\u306f\u304b\u306a\u308a\u3042\u308b\u3002\u5e8f\u76e4\u306b\u3060\u3063\u305f\u308a\u4e2d\u76e4\u3067\u3082\u4e2d\u6b62\u306b\u306a\u308b\u4e8b\u3082\u3042\u308b\u3002<br>\u4e2d\u6b62\u306b\u306a\u3063\u3066\u6094\u3057\u304f\u3066\u6ce3\u3044\u305f\u308a\u3082\u3059\u308b\u3002<br>\u5b9f\u306f\u30e2\u30f3\u30cf\u30f3\u3082\u7d50\u69cb\u30ae\u30ea\u30ae\u30ea\u304c\u3093\u3070\u3063\u3066\u3075\u3093\u3070\u3063\u3066\u4e16\u306b\u51fa\u305b\u305f\u3002<\/p>&mdash; \u5c0f\u5d8b\u614e\u592a\u90ce (@kozyex) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kozyex\/status\/2033565888335708443?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 16, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-palette-color-5-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><em>Translation:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This is what I thought seeing that post about game development being tough due to cancelled releases.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It may not come as a surprise, but there are quite a few Capcom games that got discontinued midway without ever seeing the light of day. There are cases when projects get cancelled right at the beginning or even midway through production.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>When that happens, it sometimes even made me feel like crying out of frustration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>We actually had to work really hard to push past the threshold that would let Monster Hunter get a proper release.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Illustrator Danryoku, who has worked in the industry for 14 years, most notably providing monster designs for Brave x Junction and Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, also wrote a lengthy response to the discourse, doubling down on the sentiment that freelance illustrators and developers show \u201cachievements\u201d far too small compared to how much time they invested into them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"zxx\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rl6Sg0Xc3h\">https:\/\/t.co\/rl6Sg0Xc3h<\/a><\/p>&mdash; \u4f0a\u52e2\u7530\u30d2\u30ed\u30e6\u30ad\uff20\u5f3e\u529b_\u7570\u4e16\u754c\u98ef (@danryokumeshi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/danryokumeshi\/status\/2033740330856800333?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 17, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So far, Danryoku has worked on 6 mobile games and 3 unreleased projects (not counting projects they\u2019re currently working on), with the periods they\u2019d been assigned to the projects ranging from just a few months to numerous years. However, all 6 of the mobile games have ended services, leaving the artist without a tangible track record. Furthermore, Danryoku points out that the overall time they spent working on the three projects which were never released was around 5 and a half years. With this in mind, Danryoku says they still might be one of the luckier ones, as there are probably people who\u2019ve worked on games for decades with even fewer projects under their belts. While discontinuations of video games projects are indeed frustrating on their own, for freelance artists and developers, it\u2019s a really big \u201cdebuff\u201d when it comes to building professional reputation and expanding their career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/out-of-100-artists-98-were-basically-there-to-mass-produce-japanese-devs-discuss-harsh-reality-of-working-as-an-in-house-game-illustrator\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>\u201cOut of 100 artists, 98 were basically there to mass-produce.\u201d Japanese\u00a0devs\u00a0discuss harsh reality of working as an in-house game illustrator\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese creators discuss the difficulties of spending years working on game projects that never get to see the light of day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":63449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-63443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cWorked in the industry for 10 years with nothing to show for it.\u201d Japanese creators discuss the harsh reality of working on cancelled game projects as freelancers - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Japanese creators discuss the difficulties of spending years working on game projects that never get to see the light of day.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/worked-in-the-industry-for-10-years-with-nothing-to-show-for-it-japanese-creators-discuss-the-harsh-reality-of-working-on-cancelled-game-projects-as-freelancers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cWorked in the industry for 10 years with nothing to show for it.\u201d Japanese creators discuss the harsh reality of working on cancelled game projects as freelancers - 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