A former Capcom veteran who worked on classic games in the Street Fighter, Mega Man, The Legend of Zelda, and Resident Evil series, Yoshiki Okamoto, admits to spending "¥80 million" or approximately $500,000 "per account" on his own game, in order to get a better understanding of its "biggest spenders."
In an interview that was originally aired on Fuji TV, before being reported on by Sponichi Annex (thanks, Automation), Okamoto justifies his outrageous spending habit on his own game, particularly given that he could just add in-game currency to his accounts via administrator privileges.
After leaving Capcom, Okamoto suffered huge losses when his partner studio closed down, leaving his company in deep debt. Fates changed with the launch of its free-to-play gacha game, Monster Strike, in 2013, which has more than 65 million players as of last year.
In comments translated by GamesRadar+, Okamoto explains why he spends an unthinkable amount of money on his own game. "It's necessary to understand the impression that the people who spend a lot of money have," he reasons. "I do this to make sure the biggest spenders don't feel dissatisfied."
管理者権限ってのが世の中にあるんかどうか知らんけど、それならユーザーの気持ちを理解するんが難しいと思うんですFebruary 15, 2026
On Twitter, under a post about the interview, one Japanese user suggests that Okamoto could give himself the in-game currency via the backend. However, he believes this wouldn't give him the same insight. "I know there are administrator privileges," Okamoto writes. "But [if I used them] it would be difficult to understand the users' feelings."
The fact that he has enough money to spend millions on his own game means he must be doing something right.
