Pokémon TCG Pocket isn’t what you’d call a ‘small game’, yet the Japanese government has given developer DeNA a 1.5 billion Yen (or an eye-watering £6,997,500) subsidy to help its mobile game development efforts.
The news were shared by Automaton following the announcement that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry “would provide a total of 1.5 billion yen (roughly $92.7 million USD) in subsidies to live-service game developer DeNA” as part of the IP360 program, which was created to support the development of “new domestic IPs” and boost the country’s content industry globally.
Needless to say, Pokémon is neither new nor a tiny intellectual property in need of help. DeNA is a developer that’s not part of The Pokémon Company, though TPC does have a 33.4% stake in DeNa Digital Production (which was rebranded as Pokemon Card D Studio in 2024).
As reported by Automaton, many Japanese users on X aren’t happy about the investment in a private company that’s doing well by all accounts. “This is what they’re doing while cutting the budgets for public museums and art galleries. If DeNA’s mobile games actually do sell, what do we gain from that? It’s just a private company gaining even more profit,” one user stated. That’s just one example, but more people on socials are pointing out the Japanese government is once again failing to “nurture new talents”.
Meanwhile, there are some working in the Japanese games industry who say it’s hard to get substantial development funding due to “the risk of being unable to meet their obligations if something goes wrong” when you’re a solo or small indie developer. The debate is served and far from over.
