Japanese game devs face font dilemma as license increases from $380 to $20k

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

AI and Font Generation

  • Some argue font design, especially CJK, is a deep craft and “anyone can make a font, but not a good one”; they’re skeptical current models can handle precise vector shapes, legibility, and consistency across thousands of glyphs.
  • Others are confident AI (or at least AI-assisted tools) will soon generate usable fonts, citing existing AI-assisted CJK style-transfer products and the general trend of AI encroaching on creative tasks.
  • Even proponents note that AI output still requires human checking and iteration, which can erase the cost advantage versus buying a finished commercial font.

Why the Price Hike Hurts

  • The huge jump from a few hundred dollars to around $20k/year is seen as less critical than the new user cap (25,000 users), which excludes successful games and apps.
  • For live-service or shipped games, swapping fonts is nontrivial: typography affects layout, UI metrics, branding, and QA. Some studios might even face rebranding if their core identity font becomes unaffordable.

Open-Source and Alternative Fonts

  • There are open fonts (Noto, Unifont, Google’s Japanese families, etc.), but:
    • Coverage is good but not exhaustive; some are bitmap or aesthetically unsuitable for games.
    • Many are “cold” or utilitarian; developers want fonts that support atmosphere and style, not just legibility.
  • Japanese games often rely on a small set of widely used commercial fonts; moving away requires significant redesign and testing.

Complexity of Japanese/CJK Fonts

  • CJK fonts involve thousands of characters; a typical JP font may include ~7,000. This makes custom design or “just clone it” approaches expensive.
  • Glyphs are built from radicals and compositional rules, so partial automation is possible, but high-quality results still demand manual adjustment.
  • Han unification and font fallback issues cause practical problems: using Chinese-style glyphs in Japanese games, mismatched Latin vs CJK styles, and tofu/mixed-font artifacts.

Business Practices and Private Equity

  • Many see the move as a classic private-equity play: buy foundries, centralize IP, then sharply raise rents.
  • Monotype’s acquisition of local firms and lack of Japan-specific pricing/support are criticized as culturally tone-deaf and relationship-destroying.
  • Several commenters report being audited or pressured over webfont usage and now favor only open-source or independent-foundry fonts.

Responses and Workarounds

  • Suggestions include:
    • Commissioning custom fonts or near-clones (legally distinct designs).
    • Pooling resources across studios (though uniqueness limits this).
    • Deriving new fonts from public-domain metal-type prints via advanced image/geometry processing, then releasing them more freely.
  • Broader debates arise about IP: some argue fonts should no longer be strongly protected; others defend ongoing royalties as fair compensation for highly skilled, labor-intensive work.