Anonymous Coward · 2y

Do you think self-publishing is the future for the visual novel localization industry? Do you think this will lead to the decline of many of the existing companies?

I do not see self-publishing as a threat, I think that's a system that will eat itself as companies realize they have no idea the lengths their western partners actually go to when it comes to western publishing and understanding the needs of the western audience/storefronts. I can think of multiple companies that have brazenly elected to go their own way, only to devolve into rapid dumpster fires as the weight of managing localization projects actually falls upon them. Unfortunately it seems to be a lesson that companies will only learn after burning themselves, their audiences, and their products, and even then they may simply elect not to look westward at all after that. If you want to know what I think is a credible threat to the existing companies, it's just sales and the fact that the market is becoming a smaller playing ground. Sales are declining, licensing is quickly becoming a game of who has the most money (a problem exacerbated by large entities like DMM coming in with deep pockets and little to lose), storefronts are becoming far more difficult to please, monopolies/cashflow reliances are well enough established, and there are new rules every few months about what you can and can't circumvent. It doesn't help that a large portion of the audience takes all of this for granted, either. There is a well oiled machine in place that ensures all of this happens in a timely fashion, and I have been watching various factors contribute to its gradual rusting over the last few years. I don't personally think we're due a collapse in the immediate future, but I do believe that the reality of the scene that many VN consumers take for granted will change before long. I know some places are already internally changing their directions either towards other fields that'll keep them more afloat, or with the intention of selling and pulling out entirely. It's just how the market is now.

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