Otaku USA Magazine
95% Of H-Game Directors Quit, Says Eroge Boss

About 95% of directors of so-called eroge, or erotic Japanese video games, throw in the towel, and 10% of those within a week of getting the job, says Akabeisoft 2 president Kei Mimasu.

Mimasu shared those and other interesting stats in a series of tweets Tuesday, shining a light into the world of eroge-as-business.

Why the high attrition rate? It’s all about expectation versus reality, says Mimasu. New directors think they’ll have the freedom to make the kind of game they’ve always imagined. In reality, their main job is to practically grovel before creators at the negotiating table. On top of that, they’re often rejected by illustrators they’d like to work with.

Ouch.

Mimasu posted some other attrition rates as well: Akabeisoft 2 loses about 75% of scenario writers, 50% of PR folk, 25% of sound engineers, 15% of artists, and 10% of programmers. Illustrators are generally brought in on a freelance basis, so don’t count.

Akabeisoft 2 started life as doujin circle Akabei Soft in 2005 and release eroge under several monikers. Some of their titles, like Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shōjo, have received console ports and manga adaptations.

The moral of Mimasu’s tweets? If you want to be happy with a career in eroge, become a programmer. We guess?

Source: Yaraon

Matt Schley

Matt Schley (rhymes with "guy") lives in Tokyo, and has been OUSA's "man in Japan" since 2012. He's also written about anime and Japanese film for the Japan Times, Screen Daily and more.

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