T8
MK1
SF6
GBVSR
2XKO
SSBU
T7
DBFZ
BH
GGST
SC6
SG2E
KI
MVS
KoFXV
MBTL
SF5
MK11
Game development is notoriously expensive and only becomes more so as time goes on. However, Japanese game developers are currently tackling an entirely unexpected new expense – fonts.
The reports are coming from Game*Spark and Gamemakers are indicating that the Japanese company called Fontworks LETS has ended their licensing plan just last week. With this plan, developers had access to many different fonts that were crucial for developing the game branding, identity, and in some cases localizations.
This fairly popular plan only required a relatively modest yearly fee of 60,000 JPY (roughly 385 USD), but now, the only option is for developers to purchase a different license from Monotype. The problem is that said license is infinitely more expensive at $20,500, and has a bizarre limit of 25,000 users per app that uses the fonts, an utterly unrealistic condition.
This all likely comes as a delayed consequence of Monotype, a US-based company, acquiring Fontworks LETS back in 2023. Japanese fonts are very difficult to make, and thereby carry a higher value for those that need to purchase it, so perhaps charging more was a part of their eventual plan. Even if this situation will likely lead to losing many of their current clients.
This change will have a negative impact on the industry, but it's especially harmful for live service titles, which obviously includes fighting games. Developers that relied on Fontworks will now have to choose between paying a massive extra for a new license, or immediately find an alternative to swap the fonts they are currently using. It's sort of a lose/lose situation all around.
According to one of their representatives, Indie-us Games, the developers behind TrinityS and Undefeated, have already made the switch to DynaFont after seeing the new price.