Ex-Capcom dev spends $500K on his own gacha games just to understand big spenders

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Yoshiki Okamoto, a former producer at Capcom, has shared that he personally invests over $500,000 in his mobile games. He does this to gain insight into what motivates players who spend a lot of money within the games.

Okamoto shared details about his career, including the success and eventual closing of his previous game development studio, Game Republic, during an interview on the Japanese TV program, ‘Where Did That Money Go?’

Spending big to understand big spenders

According to reports from Sponichi Annex (via Automaton), game developer Yuji Okamoto revealed he spent more than $500,000 – roughly 80 million yen – on his own gacha games, spread across several accounts. He explained this wasn’t just playing, but research – he wanted to understand how players who spend a lot of money experience the game’s purchase systems firsthand.

He explained that he wants to know what motivates high-spending customers, so he can ensure they remain happy with their purchases. He shared this insight during the program.

It’s unknown exactly how much money Okamoto has spent on his own games, but it’s likely he’s invested heavily in Monster Strike. This popular mobile game, released in 2013, has become a huge hit in Japan and has been downloaded over 50 million times worldwide.

I remember being blown away by games like Street Fighter II and Resident Evil, and it’s cool to know that someone named Okamoto worked on those! He actually helped make them back when he was at Capcom. Later, he started his own company, Game Republic, but unfortunately, it closed down in 2011. Now, from what I understand, he’s mostly making games for phones and tablets.

I was really surprised to learn that before Monster Strike became such a huge hit, its creator, Okamoto, was actually in a really tough spot financially! He said he was about $11 million in debt after Game Republic went under, but now he’s doing amazingly well, earning almost $8 million a year. It’s an incredible turnaround story!

It was a really difficult time. I lost my apartment because I couldn’t afford the rent and had to move around, staying with different friends. To save money, I even limited myself to spending only 300 yen a day on food, he explained.

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2026-02-18 20:18