Shuhei Yoshida, the former head of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios at PlayStation, thinks it's going to be tough for Japanese studios to keep up with the scale of development in China, which is powering rising hits like Genshin Impact all over the world. In part, that's because of "legal problems" that might prevent Japanese studios from hiring massive numbers of developers to work the same extensive hours they might at a studio like MiHoYo.
"The development speed in China is amazing," Yoshida tells 4Gamer, as translated by Automaton. "They're also quick at changing personnel, and all of the game development work itself unfolds rapidly."
Yoshida cites a conversation with representatives of MiHoYo, where "we discussed how it would be quite difficult for Japanese developers to make games in the same way miHoYo does. Not to mention the legal problems that would come with it." Yoshida is a bit vague on the exact nature of those problems, but it sounds like he's suggesting that more lax worker protections in China are helping studios like MiHoYo outpace studios in countries with stronger workplace protections for employees.
"I wonder if there are some aspects [of the development process] that Japanese game developers just can't replicate," Yoshida continues. "One reason why games in China are so strong is because they are made in an environment which allows for hiring a large number of personnel who can work long hours. Of course, you never know what might happen in the near future, but looking at the current state of things, I think that's the biggest factor."
The issue with trying to pick this sentiment apart is that working conditions in studios like MiHoYo are very poorly documented in the English-speaking world. Certainly, developers at Western studios have pushed back on the overtime demands that characterized the game industry for decades. As a consequence, however, some big publishers are outsourcing grunt work to studios in other countries where pay is lower and overtime is accepted – and occasionally, even more serious allegations of abuse have surfaced.
But an altogether rosier picture of MiHoYo has spread in the years since Genshin Impact became a global hit, with word of free PS5s and high-end graphics cards being distributed to employees as part of celebratory New Year events. How accurately those kinds of stories represent what it's like actually working at a studio like MiHoYo is a lot more difficult to unpack, but at least one thing is certain: this particular studio is outclassing many of its competitors, no matter where in the world they're located.
"Other Chinese developers and even Korean developers are releasing 'miHoYo-like games,'" Yoshida concludes, "but it feels like miHoYo is aiming to be one step ahead of them."
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