CyberConnect2 president Hiroshi Matsuyama is releasing a new book called “The Game Industry Guidebook” on February 16, offering advice for people who want to work in game development. The book includes survey data from around 40 game companies in Japan and reveals some tough numbers about getting hired in the industry.

According to the surveys, only about 1.9% of people applying for game development jobs in Japan actually get hired. While Matsuyama personally believes job seekers should focus on how to succeed rather than why they fail, he wants to help prepare future developers by sharing common reasons why applicants get rejected.

Reasons for Rejection

Many aspiring game artists submit portfolios filled with illustrations and say they want to do character design. Matsuyama points out that almost no company will hire someone without experience directly into a character design role. Since each game needs different design styles, companies often hire established illustrators for these positions instead.

However, he notes that artists who start in other roles will naturally get design opportunities as they gain experience at a company. If they do good work, those designs will make it into actual games.

Programming applicants often ask if knowing Java or C# is enough to get hired. While games use different programming languages, Matsuyama strongly recommends learning C++ since most console games are built with it. He suggests applicants create a short playable game similar to WarioWare titles. Evaluators typically look at the game’s structure, source code, and whether it works from beginning to end. Those who don’t want to make a full game can show their skills through other methods like shader demonstrations.

When aspiring game designers (called game planners in Japan) ask what kind of proposals they should write, Matsuyama says the question itself shows a problem. Since game designers need to constantly create new ideas, he recommends practicing by writing 100 one-page proposals about one theme, then throwing them away and writing 100 more on a different theme, and repeating the process.

He explains that short proposals are better than lengthy 30-page documents for projects that probably won’t work or won’t be fun. Matsuyama also mentions that CyberConnect2, despite having 30 years of experience, prefers hiring recent graduates and training them rather than hiring mid-career developers. Since these new hires have no track record, showing they can produce many ideas is the best way to demonstrate their potential.

確かに主語が抜けてますね。

本書を執筆するにあたり、業界のゲームメーカーさん40社ほどにご協力いただき各社の採用に関するアンケートを実施しました。

それらの集計結果が採用率1.9％でした。

ちなみに弊社は例年だと採用率は5％前後ですので比較的（他社さんと比べると）採用率は高めですね。… https://t.co/8ZDIdfelX9

— 松山洋＠サイバーコネクトツー (@PIROSHI_CC2) February 4, 2026

Matsuyama’s advice has received mixed responses from other industry professionals. Some developers think his standards are too strict or don’t reflect typical practices across Japanese game companies. Matsuyama has clarified that while these are his personal opinions, the 1.9% hiring rate comes from industry-wide surveys and points to broader trends. Interestingly, CyberConnect2’s own hiring rate is about 5% in recent years, which is higher than the industry average.