Asobu Is Trying To Help The Japanese Indie Scene Grow

Asobu, a hub and resource center for Japanese indie developers, is hosting an inaugural indie showcase stream next week ahead of the Tokyo Game Show. The stream will focus on games coming from local Japanese developers.

The indie hub has been around since 2019, but it made a new announcement about its recent efforts to bring the Japanese indie scene together earlier today. The group has helped run regular meetups for indie developers in Tokyo, assisted in moving the Kyoto-based indie show BitSummit online due to the pandemic, and launched a Discord channel for Japanese developers to communicate in.

The Japanese indie scene has been vibrant for years, but has rarely seen big indie game success stories similar to ones in North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Cultural barriers, the lack of fundraising tools like Kickstarter up until recently, and the lack of a greater computer culture have prevented the development scene in Japan from growing. Things have been improving slowly, though. Asobu hopes to help change move faster in the region.

Ojiro "Moppin" Fumoto, who developed one of the few Japanese indie hits in Downwell, is a member of Asobu.

The group's inaugural showcase stream is scheduled for Monday, September 21 at 5 AM PT / 8 AM ET / 9 PM JST on YouTube and Twitch.