WePlay Expo 2025, a former senior director of SIE (Sonny’s Interactive Entertainment) and now head of the independent game company Yosp, participated for the first time in China’s largest independent game fair, and confessed to seeing “the complete evolution of the Chinese game industry” during an interview with Japanese media 4Gamer.
From the speed of development, the brain circulation, to the environment in which large amounts of manpower and long working hours can be invested, Yoshida said, “Some parts of Japan’s developers cannot be imitated.”
When Jida Shuhei recalled his past participation in Chenajoy, sponsored by PlayStation, the Chinese game often gave him the impression of “symmetrical repetitions” in both ancient narratives and martial arts. But this year, in WePlay, he felt completely different.
“It’s completely different now. Chinese independent developers from abroad are already on the same starting line, and little difference can be observed.
There are also many displays of Chinese culture by overseas teams in the exhibition area, and it is difficult to identify even the source of the Chinese national independence game, showing that the Chinese independent game is internationally integrated in its design and completion.
“Japan can’t” develops a system that differs from the law, resulting in an insurmountable speed. Bad
Turning to the characteristics of Chinese developers, Yoshida Shuping began by emphasizing strong business awareness and entrepreneurship.
He said that most of the teams involved in SIE’s main manager, China Star, did not just want to play, but understood clearly the importance of commercialization, market strategies and operations. But what really opens the gap is the environment itself.
From Yoshida’s perspective, the development model of Chinese teams such as Mihawa is not only fast, but also rapid migration, and the overall production cycle is extremely efficient, and Japan cannot afford to block regulations and culture.
In addition, Yoshida Shuhei spoke about the recent public publication of the new UE5 ” Varsapura ” , which focused his most attention on the move of Mikhail from Unity to Unreal Engineering.
According to Yoshida, the reorientation of the Miha trip is not just a technological upgrading, but also a demonstration of the strategic thinking that prejudges the future of the market, the layout, and is “a company in the front line of the industry”.
Yoshida Shuihei named the Chinese independent work “crazy enough to surprise him”.
As a senior independent game promoter, Yukio Yoshida personally tried a number of works at the WePlay exhibition and named a number of “crazy-to-massive” creative works, including:
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Neuro Goose: The concept is “a little crazy” and it impresses Yoshida.
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Snails and Floats: He praises the uniqueness of his creativity by modifying the rules of the game as a way to solve the puzzle.
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Multiple Windows (students’ works): “A play that has never been seen” by opening multiple game windows and advancing the role through a combination of windows.
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Avatar Zero: The display of moral choice with a huge button at the scene is very new.
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Word Game World: Players can make their own games and share them in the mechanisms of classic word games, which are “very groundbreaking”.
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Falling: A Metallic Servant’s Savior’s Savior: A good sense of excavation from the fall.
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” Love and robotic maintenance technology ” : its vision and subject matter are quite unique.
When it comes to how an independent developer should create, Yoshida says, “Most of all, do what you really want to do.” But if you want to survive in the industry, he thinks that “selling perspective” is essential, and you have to show your work to others to understand which part of the game the player really likes.
Yoshida encouraged developers to bring their work to the event as soon as possible, even if it was an early prototype, and to feel the real reaction of the player; he also revealed his guiding philosophy, “I will point out the problems, but I will not go straight to the solution”, hoping that the developers will find their own creative answers.
