Prolific Japanese outsourcing studio that's quietly worked on Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Resident Evil for over 44 years is in trouble due to game cancellations
Jul. 4, 2024Mass layoffs might not be hurting Japanese studios, but game cancellations certainly are
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Game cancellations and the generally shakey state of the industry is hurting at least one prolific outsourcing studio in Japan.
Tose isn’t a studio you’re likely familiar with, but stick around and watch the credits for any number of heavyweight games from Japan and you’ll be sure catch its name sliding up the screen. Tose have co-developed, supported, and ported countless games from the NES and Game Boy era to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, and Resident Evil Revelations.
Tose reportedly blames the losses on various game cancellations across the industry.Mass layoffsaren’t happening at Japanese publishers nearly as much as they are elsewhere, partly because ofworker protection lawsrather than executive kindness, but multiple companies are still feeling the post-pandemic blues.Square Enix, a frequent Tose collaborator, as an example, recently announced that it hadcancelled several unannounced gamesand accrued around $140 million in “content abandonment loses.” Bandai Namco, another publisher that would often use Tose’s workforce, similarlyannouncedthat at least five games that were once in development had also been scrapped due to a loss in profits last year.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
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