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.
なぜディレクターが離職率が高いのか、理想→原画やシナリオに命令して好きにゲーム製作出来る(なんなら予算も自由)。現実→すべてのクリエーター様に土下座する勢い(本当に土下座するわけではない)で交渉し依頼をする仕事だと現場で知る。しかも自分の好きな絵師に依頼を断られる。と予測。
— 三舛 啓 (@mimasukei) March 15, 2016
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.
職種別離職率(あかべぇそふと社内)ディレクター約95%、シナリオライター約75%、広報約50%、サウンドクリエーター約25%、グラフィッカー約15%、プログラマー約10%、原画はフリーランスが多い為に除外しました。ディレクターにいたっては辞める人の10%は1週間以内です。続く
— 三舛 啓 (@mimasukei) March 15, 2016
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