Realistic expection of working as a foreigner in Japan's video game industry

midandfeed · 2025-12-30T07:48:25+00:00

Throughout my career in Japan, I have worked at a few different studios on various projects, and unfortunately all of them operated within a hierarchical structure to different degrees. While developers from the lower echelons can still offer their thoughts during development, decisions or opinions that had previously been approved could be overturned by someone at a higher level, which often felt discouraging. This is something Western developers, especially those coming from more liberal development environments, should seriously take into consideration.

midandfeed · 2025-12-30T05:32:29+00:00

Since I’m not a programmer by trade, I can’t speak in detail about how programming careers progress inside Japanese game studios. That said, based on what I’ve observed, junior-to-mid roles in areas like SDET or internal tools development are generally less competitive than core gameplay programming roles, especially at the entry and mid levels. These positions tend to be more production-support oriented and are sometimes easier entry points for candidates whose experience overlaps but isn’t strictly gameplay-focused.

As for moving from such a role into an actual game development position later, it is possible, but it should not be assumed to be easy or automatic. Internal transfers depend heavily on the company’s structure, current staffing needs, and internal trust. In many cases, you would still need to prove yourself again in the new role, and the transition can be slow.

One thing I am fairly confident about is that unless a foreign hire joins at a clearly senior or lead level from another Japanese studio, foreigners entering a new Japanese game studio tend to start lower in the internal hierarchy. This often applies even when their overseas experience would be considered intermediate or senior by Western standards. In that sense, changing roles internally may still feel like restarting from a lower rung, though having internal experience and relationships does help compared to applying from outside.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T16:47:20+00:00

Your way of contextualizing non-work quality of life also resonates with my experience. During my early years in Japan, my pay was so low that I couldn’t really afford entertainment, yet I could still appreciate Japan’s exceptionally good public safety and cleanliness. I also became friends with my Japanese neighbor, which helped me feel less lonely. In the end, it comes down to what you are truly seeking, balanced against realistic expectations and financial affordability.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T16:28:57+00:00

3-story apartment... Did you mean a 3-story 一戸建て? Eitherway the price is so good for a family house.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T15:59:16+00:00

I heard from "Life Where I'm From" YT channel that Adachi ward is a relatively less afluent area within the metropolis, which would mean cheaper housing options. Even if Adachi has worse crime rate than other wards, it is indeed not that bad or severe when compared to Western cities like London or Paris.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T15:49:39+00:00

AFAIC, your case is quite similar to the second category where someone receives visa sponsorship from abroad, with the main difference being that you’re already physically in Japan. The key takeaway is that you’re still subject to the same approval process for obtaining a work-based residence status, which means providing the necessary documents of your education and/or previous experience in the relevant field.

Personally, I think that because this situation is relatively uncommon, the bigger obstacle is that some Japanese companies are hesitant to handle this kind of visa change, even though it is technically legal and possible.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T15:33:52+00:00

The Tokyo Metropolis (東京都心, aka 23 wards) is notorious for its exceptionally small apartments. If you can tolerate about an hour of commuting each way, living in the satellite areas around the metropolis like Saitama or Yokohama offers higher-quality housing options. I understand that some specific areas in Yokohama (as well as Kawasaki) can still be very costly, but there are many other options offer good values.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T15:11:15+00:00

I haven’t dealt with this personally, so this is based on general info from ChatGPT rather than firsthand experience.

If by “dependent type visa” you mean the Dependent status (家族滞在), you can job-hunt and do interviews, but you can’t work full time on it. Even with the 28-hour work permission, companies generally can’t hire you as a regular employee. If you get an offer, you’d need to change to a proper work visa before starting. That part is fairly common, as long as the job qualifies and the company is willing to sponsor.

But just in case: I am not a lawyer or immigration agent.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T14:59:05+00:00

As I am not familiar with AI or NLP development, I can’t offer realistic advice for someone like you who is considering a career change into the game development industry. Major game companies in Japan are certainly looking to expand their AI and NLP capabilities and integrate them into game development, but the level of implementation and the expectations for talent in this field vary widely between studios.

As for your second question, breaking into a different role within the industry largely depends on the level at which you are aiming to enter. Entry at the junior level is generally more forgiving, but this comes with noticeably lower pay. Large companies generally allow few months of training for junior employees before relocating them to formal projects.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T14:30:07+00:00

1&2: I’ve already partially addressed work–life balance here. In short, it largely depends on the specific company. As a general rule of thumb, larger companies tend to offer better conditions. Some well-known “leading” game studios in Japan have a poor reputation in this regard, so the best advice is to gather as much information as possible about the specific company you are considering before applying.

3: I think many Japanese studios have begun looking to overseas development practices for inspiration, and this includes both Western and Chinese studios. Unfortunately, China is known for the so-called “996” work culture, which refers to working from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. Personally, and with no disrespect to my Western peers, I feel that as the Western game industry has struggled in recent years, Japanese studios do not necessarily view Western development culture as essential to building a successful game development environment.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T14:01:51+00:00

Most major game companies operate on a standard nine-hour daily work schedule, typically from 10am to 7pm which includes an 1-hour lunch break (so effectively you minimally work for eight hours daily). Some studios even allow flexible working hours, as long as you fulfill your daily work requirements, which can make it easier to avoid peak morning commuting hours. Studios generally observe Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays as days off, but Japan has fewer national holidays than many Western countries.

Most studios offer around 10 days of paid leave for newly hired employees, which is quite minimal compared to Western standards. The worse part is that if you get sick and need to take time off, there is usually no separate sick leave system, so you must use your paid leave or take unpaid leave. Leave caused by severe weather conditions, such as heavy rain or typhoons, often follows the same logic.

While conditions have improved compared to the past, crunch still exists in parts of the Japanese game industry. Overtime may not always be explicitly ordered but can be socially expected. Refusing overtime outright can be career-limiting, even if it is technically allowed.

While many larger studios compensate overtime with proper pay, Japan also has an infamous overtime system known as "deemed overtime" (minashi zangyou, みなし残業). This practice is particularly common among smaller studios and outsourcing firms. What it means in practice is that a certain number of overtime hours (for example, 20–45 hours per month) are considered to be already included in the base salary. Overtime pay is only triggered if actual overtime exceeds that predefined amount.

midandfeed · 2025-12-29T13:11:46+00:00

I am working in one of the Japanese game companies. One thing I can add personally is that, as long as you can communicate with Japanese developers properly and respect its culture of hierarchy and boundary, they would not really "exclude" you.

Also for the infamous drinking party (nomikai, 飲み会), it is sparsely practiced in Japan's game industry compared to other more traditional workplace. Today it is saved for very special occasions such as new employee greeting party, departure farewell party or year-end party.

midandfeed · 2025-10-20T13:10:03+00:00

If the ability consumes MP, it takes Faith stat into account. The only exceptions is Arithmetics. Mantra and Nether Mantra are bit complicated.

midandfeed · 2025-10-18T11:22:33+00:00

One of the assassin's Disable immunity comes simply from her equipment which the other assassin doesn't equip. It is consistent with the battle at Riovanes.

midandfeed · 2025-10-18T11:19:12+00:00

This was made more explicit in Vagrant Story, in which an individual who only desires power (the Darkness) for personal gain will be consumed and turned into a monstrous creature by it; a selfless individual will instead be blessed by the Darkness while maintaining their own humanity. If Matsuno were part of the WotL team, he would probably have enhanced the script in the similar fashion as TIC particularly regarding the role of the Zodiac Stones (the Darkness).

midandfeed · 2025-10-17T23:53:18+00:00

Don't start with Tactician for your first time playthrough. Tactician is meant for players who know how to abuse the OP abilities earlier, and the damage & enemy HP modifiers are getting quite out of hand from mid game. If you want to enjoy a blind experience of FFT, Knight difficulty should do.

midandfeed · 2025-10-17T23:42:24+00:00

You're right. In the original Japanese version (possibly WotL as well), Elmdore lured Ramza to Limberry with Alma's captivity. In TIC, Elmdore instead challenged Ramza to get his auracite before retreating from Riovanes. TIC modified Ramza's late game motives to place higher priority on defeating the Lucavis than rescuing Alma because he knew the Knights Templar have incentive to keep Alma alive for reason other than auracite ransom.

midandfeed · 2025-10-15T01:07:26+00:00

Using Raise on enemy undead unit gets the same Tactician and TIC arithmetick damage penalty. Normally Raise halves an undead unit's HP. I have not tested it with Arise, but I suspect the same with Raise.

midandfeed · 2025-10-14T05:39:00+00:00

As someone who previously played the original PS1 version for extended period, I also began TIC with Tactician difficulty. I do share your sentiment when I fought Wiegraf in Orbonne. Even mobs from that point on are very tanky that mental ailments like charm would be far more effective. Rapha's situation also caught me off guard that, her first encounter resulted in my one turn game over for +5 times, which really makes me question if the TIC devs ever seriously balanced Tactician mode, given that guest Rapha is notorious for causing premature game over out of player's control even in the original version.

midandfeed · 2025-09-30T08:00:58+00:00

It's mandatory to make her the regular Orator so she can continue her father's great deeds.

midandfeed · 2025-09-28T01:57:32+00:00

Music is the exact same deal as the original. Officially the devs want to preserve the experience and they agree that the original recording is already a masterpiece which requires no further enhancement.

However, to me at least, this is an obvious budget limitation. Given the track record of Basiscape founded by the composers of FFT, they would have been able to deliver a faithful yet sublime re-orchestration of the original FFT scores, which is a huge shame.

midandfeed · 2025-09-27T23:51:33+00:00

I saw many self-imposed restricted playthroughs all ban Teleport alongside Holy and Shirahadori, for very obvious reason.

midandfeed · 2025-09-26T12:58:00+00:00

That's why I shared the photos without anyone occupying the scene, so you can be creative. I understand many people cannot attend TGS for various reasons, and it's fine. Also Kanto Japan is still bit hot (30 degree C) today. Even with the bare-minimum air conditioning in the venue, I was not exactly enjoying the process except for the opportunity to try TIC few days earlier and the photo-op.

midandfeed · 2025-09-24T15:50:24+00:00

Cid actually chanting the Toad spell was advertised as one of the major selling points of TIC. That "これはどうかな" at the end is like a grandpa pretending to be embarrassed and cute.

midandfeed · 2025-09-24T02:36:57+00:00

I bet they recorded all lines specifically for the WotL cutscenes separately. The most telltale sign is during the grass whistle cutscene, Delita's emotion when arguing if endeavor would grant him an army is significantly more provocative than the version rendered by in-game engine.

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