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

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Mass layoffs might not be hurting Japanese studios, but game cancellations certainly are

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion
(Image credit: Square Enix)

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.

Despite a history spanning literal decades, however, the company is now in murky waters. Tose's financial statement for the period covering September, 2023 to May, 2024 reveal that the studio's net sales fell almost 28% from last year, leading to an operating loss of 599 million yen ($3.7 million), based on translations from Automaton.

Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

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.