MEET THE DEVELOPER

A real-life Game Dev Story

Meet Kairosoft’s founder unplugged.

Game Dev Story: how it all began

For anyone into simulation games, Game Dev Story will surely ring a bell.

Taking charge of a small studio, you are tasked with hiring talents and garnering all the resources you can muster to build a successful video game. It’s a simple yet clever representation of the gaming industry and you get to experience so much more than just the development process. Beyond the creation to release process – think engaging in the intense console wars of the early 90s!

In the virtual world, just choose your plan, handle graphic design and create sound, you are ready to produce a smash hit. This leanness is very much a reflection of Kairosoft, the game’s creator.

Founded in 2007, Kairosoft remains a small, high-performing team of around 20.

We are a small company with a special focus on game development. All our staff are either programmers or designers, and everyone is involved in the process. We craft every game from scratch, though somehow they all end up featuring similar art styles and gameplay.

— Kairosoft founder Kazuyuki Usui

Why Kairo?

In Japanese, ‘kairo’ means circuit. “The term kairo refers to an electronic circuit,” says Usui. “It’s used in data transfer. It reminds me of the streams of people and vehicles shuttling between the facilities in a sim game, and that's why I thought of naming my company 'kairo' in the first place."

But Kairosoft is also related to Cairo, the capital city of Egypt – in a way. “Microsoft went on a bender naming their Windows Betas after cities, such as with Windows 95, aka Microsoft Chicago. Microsoft Cairo was one of these names, and with that project, Microsoft aimed at incubating a promising system that would never crash, and that everyone could use. I thought that was pretty cool, so I borrowed the name,” adds Usui.

In many of our favourite titles, there's a strong – though not always reliable – hidden character named Kairo-kun. He’s become the official Kairosoft mascot.

"Kairo-kun represents my personality as well as that of Kimura, who's in charge of graphics. Well, mainly mine, probably,” says Usui, mischievously. “Just like me, Kairo-kun tends to be overly optimistic and often tries a bit too hard to be funny. He goes all out with work when the mood strikes but doesn't do anything at all when he’s not feeling it... Now you understand where his glitchy moments come from.”

Kairo style

Since its inception, Kairosoft has curated a lineup of more than 50 pixel-style simulation games, each typically focusing on a specific industry.

That means you can really be whoever you’d like to be in the Kairo world – whether you want to build a mega shopping mall, run an academy or even recruit adventurers in a fantasy town and fight against looming monsters.

From the signature pixel style and top-down view to the flexibility of play and the breezy blend of strategy and simulation, Kairosoft has truly chosen a style and owned it.

“Each game is produced by a team of six or seven, and on average, everyone in the studio contributes to at least six or seven titles,” says Usui. “Notice all the NPC secretaries at the beginning of the games? They’ll have the same name if the stories they are in were produced by the same designer. That's one Easter egg for fans to find.”

As diverse as the themes might seem, they’re all thoroughly considered before being built into a real Kairo game. “When we decide to make a new game, there’ll be multiple proposals,” Usui tells us. “Is the concept appealing? Is it an experience everybody wants or a character people would want to play? Is the gameplay compelling enough? These are some of the key aspects we consider.”

Game Dev Story in motion

As a game developer as well as a core gamer of management sims, Usui is quite content with where he's at today.

"What I’ve been doing is like playing Game Dev Story in real life, where we've grown from being a small, indie developer to excelling as a fully-fledged, solid little gaming company. To be honest, I never expect my games to become blockbusters. I just want to keep making enjoyable games, and as in Game Dev Story, take one step at a time and gradually win over players,” says Usui.