Japanese developers have faced challenges in keeping up with their Western counterparts since the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era. According to Yoko Taro, creator of the NieR series, Japanese developers struggle with adapting technology from overseas due to various reasons. In an interview with IGN, Stellar Blade creative director Hyung-Tae Kim discussed how Japanese developers have had difficulty implementing Western rendering systems as they are accustomed to developing their own engines. This has resulted in Japanese developers being late in incorporating rendering tools and middleware from the West, with many schools still not teaching these skills to new developers.
Yoko Taro believes that Japanese developers have not been efficient at adapting technology from overseas compared to developers from China and South Korea. These developers have been quicker to utilize engines like Unreal for games with Japanese aesthetics. Although some Japanese developers have faced challenges with their proprietary engines, others have been successful in developing great engines. For example, CAPCOM has created the RE Engine, which powers a variety of games such as Resident Evil, Monster Hunter Rise, Devil May Cry 5, Street Fighter 6, and Dragon’s Dogma 2.
As Unreal Engine 5 sets a new benchmark for visual quality, it remains to be seen whether Japanese developers will utilize it for their future games or if any proprietary engine can match its quality. The continuous evolution of technology will likely play a significant role in the future of Japanese game development.