Masakazu Sugimori, a former Capcom developer recognized for his work on early Ace Attorney and Viewtiful Joe games, recently shared his thoughts on X regarding women in Japan’s game industry and why, in his experience, top roles are currently dominated by men. Sugimori suggests that the intense working conditions and crunch culture once prevalent in the domestic industry have significantly influenced this dynamic.
According to Sugimori, up until roughly two decades ago—before major labor law reforms in Japan—it was common for developers to live at the office for weeks, work for days with minimal sleep, and sometimes go without baths. He notes that while some companies lacked such amenities, Capcom at least provided showers in its offices. Sugimori views this “extreme” work environment as a key factor in the disparity between male and female developers.
Although Capcom historically had a notable number of female creators, Sugimori believes that very few women could withstand the relentless hours required, making promotions to directorial roles less likely. In contrast, male creators were more inclined to sacrifice personal lives and appearance for work, leading to greater success in the industry. He cites Viewtiful Joe director Hideki Kamiya as an example, mentioning that Kamiya would often stay at the office until 5:30 AM fine-tuning the game’s balance.
“In other words, I don’t think it was gender discrimination in the sense of men and women being treated differently. Rather, in a brutally demanding workplace where people were making games like mad, it was inevitable that men were more likely to prevail,” he explains. Sugimori also points out that smaller development studios have had female producers and directors since around 2010, and Capcom followed suit shortly after. “I think that in another 10 years or so, we’ll start seeing more women among the top tier of game directors.”
Hideki Kamiya comments on how attitudes towards crunch have changed in the industry