This week has seen numerous Japanese indie developers sharing their encounters with publishers, cautioning peers about dubious practices prevalent in the industry. The conversation gained momentum on X when developer Shigefusa Works recounted a publisher who delayed contract signing for a staggering 16 months, a story that went viral earlier this week.
The discussion subsequently shifted to revenue distribution between developers and publishers. Japanese indie creator GraphicLatte, known for the dark fantasy action RPG Gear Notes: Ogre Slayer, disclosed that during their game’s development phase, a publisher presented them with extraordinary terms. At the time, GraphicLatte lacked sufficient experience to identify these terms as unreasonable. The publisher offered promotional support without covering any development expenses, proposing a revenue split of 90% for the publisher and 10% for the developer.
“For instance, if the game earned 1 million yen in sales, and assuming Steam takes approximately 30%, that would leave about 700,000 yen. Then, if 90% of that were given to the publisher, we would only receive roughly 70,000 yen. Once development costs were factored in, the deal would have been financially unviable for us.”
The developer admits that during that period, their limited industry knowledge and relief at securing a publishing agreement led them to question whether such terms were standard practice. Fortunately, negotiations with the publisher ultimately did not proceed.
Reflecting on the experience, GraphicLatte states, “I acknowledge that publishers need to consider profitability, but I hope they view developers not merely as transactional partners, but as collaborators in creating games.”
On a practical note, Masahiko Nakamura, CEO of game studio Indie-Us-Games, shared insights on typical revenue sharing arrangements within the Japanese industry based on contract specifics.
According to Nakamura, when a publisher provides promotion alone without covering development costs, a 1:9 or 2:8 split is considered fair, with the developer receiving the larger share. He believes a conventional split varies depending on publisher contributions:
Promotion only: 1:9 or 2:8
Promotion, localization, and QA: 3:7
Console platform support: 4:6
Physical release: 5:5
Full development funding: 8:2
He noted that each subsequent tier includes all services and support from the previous ones. These figures are based on his personal experience and may not represent definitive standards, but they align closely with revenue shares commonly observed among domestic indie developers. Nakamura also advised developers to exercise caution, as some publishers operate with questionable ethics.