Every year, the CEDEC administration committee of the Japanese Computer Entertainment SupplierÔÇÖs Association, which is basically the local equivalent of the ESA, conducts a in-depth survey about the life and working conditions of Japanese game developers.

The results for this year have been published, and thereÔÇÖs one question thatÔÇÖs particularly interesting, asking which platforms developers are working on, and which one they would actually like to create games for.

Unsurprisingly, given the prominence of the mobile market in Japan,┬áthe vast majority of respondents is working on smartphone and tablets (the percentages canÔÇÖt really be┬ácombined┬ábecause the question on current projects allowed for multiple answers). Only 27.1% of respondents is working on home consoles and 20.8% is working on portables. Interestingly. PC also gets a big slice, with 18.8%.

The lower percentage on portables compared to home consoles despite the fact that they normally get more games in Japan shouldnÔÇÖt surprise, considering that they also usually require a smaller team.

Turns out, though, that many developers┬áwould much rather work on home consoles. 38.1% of the respondents would rather work on PS4, Wii U and the like. The percentage is actually higher than the whole mobile family (here the percentages can be combined, because only one answer was allowed), that entices only 31.6%, and┬áitÔÇÖs still higher than┬á37.6% even if we loosely count wearable devices as mobile.

Interestingly portable consoles and PC arenÔÇÖt considered very attractive either, with only 11.3% and 6.5%, much lower than the percentage of developers who are actually working on them. The decline of arcade games is also well represented, with only 3% of developers indicating them as their preference for future employment.

With the PS4  gradually getting more widespread in the archipelago of the rising sun, and the Wii U that just passed 2.5 million units sold, hopefully the wishes of those developers that would like to develop on something with a screen bigger than the display of a microwave will be granted.

Fuente