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[RetroGamingUK]

After reading through a recent thread regarding the identity politics of AAA game developers of discovering that this appears to be only an American problem, I thought I’d take a look into the impact of this on quality, not sales.

By looking through the Metacritic top 10 for each PlayStation generation, you can see a story about the rise and fall of western gaming



PS1
Western 2
Japanese 8

Following on from the 4th gen, Japanese companies dominated in terms of quality with Square having a heavy presence.
Only Tony Hawks (American) and WipEout 2097 (British) bucked the trend


PS2
Western 6
Japanese 4

The rise of the west begins largely in part to GTA and the peak of the Madden series. As for Japan, very much a golden age for Capcom and Konami.


PS3
Western 10
Japanese 0

The golden age of American gaming coinciding with the collapse of Japan, Unreal Engine 3 providing a huge boost to western developers.

Call of Duty, Mass Effect and Bioshock providing great trilogies. As for Japan, only Street Fighter IV and MGS4 appear in the top 20


PS4
Western 7
Japanese 3

Sony’s golden age of forth party thanks in part to western studios like Naughty Dog and Santa Monica.


PS5
Western 4
Japanese 6

DEI STRIKES! The collapse of western AAA is stark with EA, Activision, Ubisoft are nowhere to be seen with the highest entry being EA’s Dead Space remaster at 28. Two of the top 4 in the Western category are European.

As for Japan, huge success with RPGs like Elden Ring, Metaphor, Final Fantasy, and let’s not forget the wonderful AstroBot.



America, I love ya, but your videogames are fucking shit right now.

 

[Novaex]

Looking at the games in the last year I have finished or in case of live service games played for a decent amount of time I almost completely shifted to games from asia. It's crazy as a few years ago my list would have been 90% western games.

China:
- ZZZ
- Wuthering Waves

Korea:
- Stellar Blade
- Lost Ark
- Once Human
- The First Descendant

Japan:
- FF 7 Rebirth
- Unicorn Overlord
- Shin Megami Tensei V

Europe:
- Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty
- Baldurs Gate 3
- Manor Lords

US:
-

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Sony were right to focus on investing in their Californian studios like Naughty Dog, Santa Monica and Insomniac in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it paid off hugely.

But now is not the early 2010s, the culture of Californian entertainment is both figuratively and literally being burned to the ground by DEI and identity politics and the right move now would be to invest heavily in Asobi.

The righting is on the wall.

 

[cireza]

How the fuck did no Japanese game make it into the PS3 top 10 ? Looks more like back then, reviewers were snubbing Japan honestly.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

I also think that Microsoft have made a huge fucking mistake with these acquisitions.

Instead of investing in up and coming smaller studios you went and bought up declining American studios like Bethesda, Activision, Blizzard. Companies that were making great stuff during the 360 era but now largely churn out mediocre crap.

Yeah, Xbox’s America focus is a big part in their decline.

 

[Astray]

How the fuck did no Japanese game make it into the PS3 top 10 ? Looks more like back then, reviewers were snubbing Japan honestly.

Big Japanese devs and publishers were in a serious rut back then. Lots of games were either unpolished, or were chasing western games and not really delivering.

They only really recovered after the PS4 and Switch 1 started to flourish.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

How the fuck did no Japanese game make it into the PS3 top 10 ? Looks more like back then, reviewers were snubbing Japan honestly.

They really struggled to adapt to the HD era initially, so many of their games just felt outdated and janky. Big franchises like Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo all went into huge decline in terms of quality.

Meanwhile Unreal Engine 3 (which only supported English language initially) was a huge boost for western developers and we saw many games that would have been PC exclusives end up on consoles day one. Western studios also benefited greatly from the big success of the 360.

In the end though, this era was just a blip.

 

[MacReady13]

Sony focusing on and becoming USA centric has easily been the worst decision they’ve made. Abandoning Japan as their main base of operations has ruined what I once loved about them. Thank FUCK for Nintendo remaining loyal to their Japanese roots.

 

[cireza]

Big Japanese devs and publishers were in a serious rut back then. Lots of games were either unpolished, or were chasing western games and not really delivering.

They only really recovered after the PS4 and Switch 1 started to flourish.

Yet you had Yakuza, Persona, Final Fantasy, Valkyria Chronicles, Bayonetta (PS3 version sucked though), MGS4, MG Rising, Lost Odyssey, Virtua Fighter 5 etc... I mean, it doesn't make much sense to me that not a single of these games made it in the top 10.

 

[struggler_guts]

Europe cause BG3

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Sony focusing on and becoming USA centric has easily been the worst decision they’ve made. Abandoning Japan as their main base of operations has ruined what I once loved about them. Thank FUCK for Nintendo remaining loyal to their Japanese roots.

I think Sony will pivot back towards being more Japanese centric.

 

[Novaex]

I'm especially happy about the rise of great korean an chinese games and development studios. China in particular will be interesting to watch as they were mainly known for high quality mobile/gacha games but with the success of Wukong we will be likely getting a lot of new single player games.

 

[MacReady13]

I think Sony will pivot back towards being more Japanese centric.

I hope you’re right. Begrudgingly listening to that Kinda Funny hack Greg “backstabber” Miller interview Shuhei Yoshida was, in a way, very sad as he was a massive reason why PlayStation was so Japanese centric. They fuck him off to indie games and it goes downhill fast for Sony. I LOATHE the direction they’re taking. I hate Microsoft and their rental direction as well. Kind of leaves me with Nintendo and Steam.

 

[Astray]

Yet you had Yakuza, Persona, Final Fantasy, Valkyria Chronicles, Bayonetta (PS3 version sucked though), MGS4, MG Rising, Lost Odyssey, Virtua Fighter 5 etc... I mean, it doesn't make much sense to me that not a single of these games made it in the top 10.

Most of the big series in there either didn't make it big during the PS3 era, or they had all-time low products (like Final Fantasy).

PS4 is the start of the comeback for Japanese companies (in fact it was a big part in why PS4 won that gen's race), which was later further boosted by the launch of the Switch.

 

[Danjin44]

For me largely thanks to Japanese games that I still haven't lost my love for gaming.

Western games in other hand I’m almost completely lost interest in them, I can’t even think of single western game I should be excited for this year.

 

[Big Baller]

WE DO IT

 

[ungalo]

Big Japanese devs and publishers were in a serious rut back then. Lots of games were either unpolished, or were chasing western games and not really delivering.

They only really recovered after the PS4 and Switch 1 started to flourish.

I disagree, i think it's quite the opposite, they cater way more to the western audience now than they did during the 360 era.

I know you're referring to some third person shooters they tried to make, it's true they wanted to have their shooters like the West, but they actually did it their own way (most of the times, i'm not counting the games that were externalised to western studios of course).

Now i feel it's the other way around, they act way more japanese on a surface level, while having standardized their game-design to reach the bigger audience, the metacritic and all that.

 

[PatientGamer]

How the fuck did no Japanese game make it into the PS3 top 10 ? Looks more like back then, reviewers were snubbing Japan honestly.

Cause they struggled so hard with HD development. Most of their games were PS2.5 quality, poor optimisation and just overall bad gaming experiences.

They're back to their best now though, Japan and China are cooking this generation arrive long may it continue.

 

[Gaiff]

How the fuck did no Japanese game make it into the PS3 top 10 ? Looks more like back then, reviewers were snubbing Japan honestly.

It was the era where the polemic of games being art truly took off. As such, the ones with a lot of cinematic flair, too many cutscenes, and bullshit screen effects such as lens flare and film grain dominated the mainstream. Japanese games with their simple focus on gameplay were seen as outdated. "It feels like you're playing a movie!!" Some designers also fancied themselves as movie directors and began heavy leaning onto writing and characters to write their games because this was the thing to do. The medium was maturing and moving away from being for children and games needed to go beyond just being fun. They could be a social or political commentary, they could evoke human emotions such as grief and empathy.

Fast forward to now. We realized most of those games sucked and thanks to From Software and their minimalist approach to storytelling, we've returned to the more traditional ways of making games. Even games like Zelda that always had a story front and center really had it take a backseat in BOTW. This isn't to say there isn't space for cinematic story-driven games. Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the most critically acclaimed games in recent memory and is heavy on writing and characterization. However, this marries beautifully with the unparalleled roleplaying aspects of the game. There is dialogue and character feedback for damn near everything you do.

The PS360 era was a lot of fun for experimentation, but many of those games are just sleep inducing and this is when we began seeing games take over an hour to even really start.

 

[hemo memo]

Western games focus too much on live services, rushed releases, and forced DEI, while Asian games prioritize polished gameplay, unique stories, and player value. Players naturally gravitate toward quality and authenticity.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Western games focus too much on live services, rushed releases, and forced DEI, while Asian games prioritize polished gameplay, unique stories, and player value. Players naturally gravitate toward quality and authenticity.

Another thing I love about Japanese developed games is that I can buy the game on the disc knowing the full game is on there and playable.

 

[Woopah]

Activision became a COD machine and EA/Ubisoft went in hard on monetization and MS' troubles are well known.

But having said that I've still enjoyed a fair few Western games in recent years so it's not all bad.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Our salvation is China, Korea and Japan.

 

[acm2000]

Outside of RE8 and HiFi Rush I'm struggling to think of any good Asian games this gen for me personally.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Sony focusing on and becoming USA centric has easily been the worst decision they’ve made. Abandoning Japan as their main base of operations has ruined what I once loved about them. Thank FUCK for Nintendo remaining loyal to their Japanese roots.

And it's going to be worse and more complicated because of the nonsense that Trump is doing right now.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

And it's going to be worse and more complicated because of the nonsense that Trump is doing right now.

Who’s going to make the games when he’s rounded up all the woke idiots and sent them to mine for oil in Alaskan concentration camps?

 

[StereoVsn]

Yet you had Yakuza, Persona, Final Fantasy, Valkyria Chronicles, Bayonetta (PS3 version sucked though), MGS4, MG Rising, Lost Odyssey, Virtua Fighter 5 etc... I mean, it doesn't make much sense to me that not a single of these games made it in the top 10.

Persona was on PS2, PSP or Vita. P5 came out for both PS3 and PS4. Atlus had great selection for PS2 and nothing for PS3.

SE had ridiculous FFXIII series. Namco games for the most part kind of sucked minus Vesperia.

MGS IV was somewhat controversial amongst players for the cut scene length. The rest of the games wouldn’t really make top 10 lists.

It’s not that there weren’t good games from Japan during the era on consoles (handhelds had some great stuff), but rather they just weren’t on top of their game. Compare to some of the top games from American studios during this time and difference is great.

Now though it’s all about Asian and European games for me.

 

[Humdinger]

Historically, I've played mostly Western games and only liked a scattered few Japanese ones. But over the past 5 years or so, I've found myself turning to Japanese games more and more. Yakuza has been a particular favorite.

 

[Hudo]

Japan still sucks ass when it comes to making RTS games, tho.

 

[Madflavor]

Not just critically but commercially as well. Western games have been underperforming, while European and especially Asian games have had pretty healthy success. Sometimes exceptional.

I do think we’re in a transition period right now. Many big tech companies are abandoning DEI, and there’s no way execs at these publishers/studios haven’t noticed how poorly the West has been doing compared to Asia. The problem is it takes a few years to make a game nowadays, but I don’t think we’ll see the changes start to take hold for awhile.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Japan still sucks ass when it comes to making RTS games, tho.

Ahem…

I’d love an update to the classic Command & Conquer series though

Thanks for closing Westwood, EA

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Who’s going to make the games when he’s rounded up all the woke idiots and sent them to mine for oil in Alaskan concentration camps?

Talented people will do it now... But at this moment a very severe crisis is coming for the US... Not so much for the rest of the world.

But Sony wanted it that way... They should have stayed in Japan.

 

[Kacho]

I thought about making a thread similar to this. Asian devs had a huge year last year and 2025 seems even better.

Good western games still exist, but mostly in the indie space.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Talented people will do it now... But at this moment a very severe crisis is coming for the US... Not so much for the rest of the world.

But Sony wanted it that way... They should have stayed in Japan.

Sony will go back to Japan

Not sure about Microsoft, they bought up half the US industry so they’re stuck with this mess for the long term.

 

[Rudius]

This shows why ps2 gen was the best ever: just firing from all cylinders.

 

[Duellist]

IMO Europe takes this for one game and one game only. Baldurs Gate 3

 

[Klayzer]

For me largely thanks to Japanese games that I still haven't lost my love for gaming.

Western games in other hand I’m almost completely lost interest in them, I can’t even think of single western game I should be excited for this year.

Same. If it was all western style games, I would be giving my time and money to another hobby. Western games artstyle, and gameplay, bores me to tears.

 

[Buggy Loop]

It’s all good

If you stop just at AAA the. You’re missing out

America is an indie powerhouse

Big studio collapsing means more tiny teams making huge efforts to enter scene with indie games.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

The big Sony AAA western games are pretty much the only Western games I play at this point. Can’t even remember the last ubi, ea, activision game I bought Day 1. Been mainly playing Eastern AA/AAA, indies and VR.

 

[Nickolaidas]

The righting is on the wall.

I saw what you did there.

 

[Robb]

The return of the king

 

[Mibu no ookami]

This is a silly thread.

There are top devs in every region. Games have different release cycles, so ultimately this comes down to cherry picking a range and a time.

Major games on the way from the US: GTA6, Ghost of Yotei, Intergalactic,

The one place where I do think there is an issue with Western games and US games in particular is that there isn't as many unique games that really stand out like Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero/Rock Band, SSX, Dead Space and a lot of that is because a lot of US firms are shifting to Live Service.

Personally, it would be my preference that these studios didn't focus on live service or at least not exclusively live service or that if they were to do live service that they look more outside of the box. You could make an awesome live service guitar hero game.

I've oft criticized Sony's live service push that ignored all of the franchises that they already have that would have been suitable to live service. SingStar was made to be live service, PlayStation Home was made to be live service, SOCOM, Killzone, Resistance... all could flourish in a live service environment, all while also giving people who have no interest in live service the option to play and opt out.

I think the industry will course correct, but I don't think there is this massive shift towards one region or another. I think that's silly weeb stuff, and I'm a huge weeb, so I know it when I see it.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Even though I can’t stand Japanese style games, they’re obviously very good. And better than what has been made in America lately. The west has focused too much on money. Rushed releases and monetization.

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

The culture and goals of western studios was a lot different back in the 6th and 7th generations. They knew who their audience was and they knew if they wanted to stay in business they had to keep releasing quality games.

I wouldn't get too comfortable thinking this is just an American problem either. Europe is closer in culture to America than Japan and the rest of Asia.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Even though I can’t stand Japanese style games, they’re obviously very good. And better than what has been made in America lately. The west has focused too much on money. Rushed releases and monetization.

I mean this is an obvious overexaggeration.

When it comes to what region has games that are more technically proficient, I'd still say games coming out of the US are more technically proficient than Japan.

Better graphics, higher resolution, image quality, and refresh rate. Also a lot more graphical options as well.

Games like Metaphor aren't pushing the envelope and that's fine too, literally nothing wrong with that, but I do think western games couldn't get away with that as much, whereas Japanese games because of people's weird thought process about them (again, I'm just as much a weeb, but just aware of it) they get a huge pass.

I also think Japan gets away with doing remakes and remasters with no criticism whatsoever or if a Japanese studio hasn't produced a game they don't catch any flack for it.

GenDesign (formerly Team ICO) hasn't released a game since 2016 with the Last Guardian and haven't even shown much of a trailer. No flack whatsoever. Naughty Dog literally released a GOTY winner in 2020 and their next game will release probably before GenDesign's AND they've released several ports, remasters, and remakes, and yet they get nonstop flack...

The double standard is palpable.

 

[nial]

I hope you’re right. Begrudgingly listening to that Kinda Funny hack Greg “backstabber” Miller interview Shuhei Yoshida was, in a way, very sad as he was a massive reason why PlayStation was so Japanese centric. They fuck him off to indie games and it goes downhill fast for Sony. I LOATHE the direction they’re taking. I hate Microsoft and their rental direction as well. Kind of leaves me with Nintendo and Steam.

Sony's Japanese production started to go downhill under Shuhei Yoshida, though. Well, maybe Phil Harrison, but shit went anemic real fast with Shu, looking at what they produced in 2008 vs. 2012 is a day and night difference.
WWS Japan heads like Tomikazu Kirita and then Yasuhide Kobayashi are very much to blame as well.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

My interest in gaming started to wane with the rise of the western game industry in the 2000s and 2010s. I just don't like their approach to design. Sure, stuff like Elder Scrolls and GTA are great, but for the most part it's not my cup of tea. While I'm glad that Japanese developers are rising again, I still have my concerns about their role in the industry. The Japanese market primarily plays on mobile these days, which means the base for console and PC over there is not as healthy as it should be. This means that Japanese developers will need to rely on Western audiences, thus catering more to their wants and needs. The Japanese industry won't truly be revived until the Japanese audiences are their primary focus again

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I mean this is an obvious overexaggeration.

When it comes to what region has games that are more technically proficient, I'd still say games coming out of the US are more technically proficient than Japan.

Better graphics, higher resolution, image quality, and refresh rate. Also a lot more graphical options as well.

Games like Metaphor aren't pushing the envelope and that's fine too, literally nothing wrong with that, but I do think western games couldn't get away with that as much, whereas Japanese games because of people's weird thought process about them (again, I'm just as much a weeb, but just aware of it) they get a huge pass.

I also think Japan gets away with doing remakes and remasters with no criticism whatsoever or if a Japanese studio hasn't produced a game they don't catch any flack for it.

GenDesign (formerly Team ICO) hasn't released a game since 2016 with the Last Guardian and haven't even shown much of a trailer. No flack whatsoever. Naughty Dog literally released a GOTY winner in 2020 and their next game will release probably before GenDesign's AND they've released several ports, remasters, and remakes, and yet they get nonstop flack...

The double standard is palpable.

And that’s part of the problem, the west has been focused on graphics at the expense of dev time and content. Naughty Dog since you brought them up is a perfect example.

The closest thing Japan has to a west style studio I can think of without putting too much thought behind it is Polyphony. Focusing strongly on graphics and bells and whistles, games take forever to come out. Became a live service franchise.

You bring up these visuals like it’s a good thing when in reality they’ve ballooned dev costs and are the main reason western games mostly suck ass now.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Sony's Japanese production started to go downhill under Shuhei Yoshida, though. Well, maybe Phil Harrison, but shit went anemic real fast with Shu, looking at what they produced in 2008 vs. 2012 is a day and night difference.
WWS Japan heads like Tomikazu Kirita and then Yasuhide Kobayashi are very much to blame as well.

People love to lionize individuals they see fit their narrative.

They'll ignore their faults and praise their strengths.

They pick out heroes and villains seemingly at random only to find out that their heroes were involved with decisions or beliefs that don't agree with or share.

Sony during the PS3 era and Vita era was awful for the company filled with actual losses, but there is a desire to whitewash that history and pretend like it didn't happen.

 

[nial]

Calling Shuhei Yoshida a massive reason as to why PlayStation was so Japanese centric is straight up history revisionism. Sony was, ironically, having a much better Japanese output under a Western man (Phil Harrison):
2008:

Coded Soul: Uketsugareshi Idea (February 7, 2008)
MyStylist (February 28, 2008)
Echochrome (March 19, 2008)
Nippon no Asoko de (May 1, 2008)
Bleach: Heat the Soul 5 (May 15, 2008)
Siren: Blood Curse (July 24, 2008)
Afrika (August 28, 2008)
Aquanaut's Holiday: Hidden Memories (September 25, 2008)
What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2 (October 15, 2008)
Bleach: Soul Carnival (October 23, 2008)
Derby Time Online (November 13, 2008)
Patapon 2 (November 27, 2008)
LocoRoco 2 (December 4, 2008)
White Knight Chronicles (December 25, 2008)

2012:

Gravity Rush (February 9, 2012)
Tokyo Jungle (June 7, 2012)