{"id":64799,"date":"2026-04-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=64799"},"modified":"2026-04-07T17:34:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T08:34:01","slug":"developers-also-tend-to-find-out-last-minute-so-go-easy-on-us-japanese-game-devs-discuss-the-realities-of-sudden-end-of-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/developers-also-tend-to-find-out-last-minute-so-go-easy-on-us-japanese-game-devs-discuss-the-realities-of-sudden-end-of-service\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDevelopers also\u00a0tend to\u00a0find out\u00a0last minute,\u00a0so go easy on us.\u201d Japanese\u00a0game\u00a0devs\u00a0discuss\u00a0the realities of\u00a0sudden\u00a0end-of-service announcements\u00a0and project cancellations\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the past few days,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0been ongoing discussion among Japanese game developers on X about what things look like \u201cfrom the other side\u201d when live-service games are abruptly\u00a0discontinued, with many agreeing that dev teams are often informed about cancellations much later than players might\u00a0think.\u00a0The discussion\u00a0was prompted by the end-of-service\u00a0(EOS)\u00a0announcement of the\u00a0mobile game Link! Like! Love Live!<\/a>,\u00a0which is set to\u00a0shut down\u00a0on June 20 after three years of\u00a0service\u00a0due to developer Odd No.\u2019s worsening financial conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it goes without saying that EOS announcements are disappointing for players, who often remain without any closure and feel like their in-game purchases and gacha pulls have gone to waste, the news can be just as abrupt for the people actually making the games. On April 6, Japanese game designer Nozomu Ichikawa tweeted<\/a>, \u201cBy the way, it\u2019s a fact that mobile game developers and management teams often get informed of service terminations last minute, so please don\u2019t blame them,\u201d which prompted an outpouring of similar testimonies from industry peers. Indie developer Nekodora Soft<\/a>, who used to work as a programmer at a game company for 17 years, added \u201cThis is true. We were carrying on with development work as usual, preparing a few months ahead, when we suddenly got called into a meeting room and heard the news.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another developer said<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019ll probably never forget how utterly gutted I was when we\u2019d finished a recording session where the voice actors did chants for our first and second anniversaries, after which the sound supervisor in the studio informed us that the company had decided to end the game. All I could think was you\u2019ve got to be kidding me<\/em>.\u201d The phenomenon doesn\u2019t seem to be limited to the mobile game industry either. Itchie, a Japanese programmer and producer who used to work at game companies like Square and SNK, says<\/a>, \u201cCancellations of console game development projects are often communicated last minute too. The same goes for company acquisitions and mergers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u767a\u8868\u3055\u308c\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3068\u304a\u308a\u3001Link! Like! \u30e9\u30d6\u30e9\u30a4\u30d6\uff01\u306e\u30b5\u30fc\u30d3\u30b9\u7d42\u4e86\u304c\u6c7a\u5b9a\u3055\u308c\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002

\u5148\u65e54\u6708\u4ee5\u964d\u306e\u5c55\u958b\u3092\u544a\u77e5\u3057\u305f\u3070\u304b\u308a\u3067\u3001\u6df7\u4e71\u3055\u305b\u3066\u3057\u307e\u3063\u3066\u3044\u308b\u3053\u3068\u3092\u304a\u8a6b\u3073\u3044\u305f\u3057\u307e\u3059\u3002
\u6211\u3005\u30b7\u30ca\u30ea\u30aa\u30c1\u30fc\u30e0\u3082\u6570\u65e5\u524d\u306b\u901a\u9054\u304c\u3042\u308a\u3001\u98f2\u307f\u8fbc\u307f\u304d\u308c\u3066\u306f\u304a\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002\u305f\u3060\u305f\u3060\u6b8b\u5ff5\u3067\u3059\u3002\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/QCqYAeMp2F<\/a><\/p>— \u77e2\u91ce\u4fca\u7b56\uff08\u516c\u958b\u7528\uff09 (@Syano_open) April 6, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>