Game devs charged up to 50x more for fonts by Japanese typeface maker and yes, even this might be AI's fault

Even with the hardware-hungry AI industry causing component shortages and sending memory prices soaring, there's perhaps one thing I wouldn't have thought to blame on the datacentres: massive font licensing fees for game developers.

Let me hit the backspace for a spell. At the end of November, commercial font service Fontworks ended its most affordable license plan, LETS (Leading Edge Type Solution), which originally allowed game devs to use their Japanese fonts for only 60,000 yen (or about $380) a year.

Parent company Monotype Imaging, which bought Fontworks back in 2023, then introduced a new pricing structure costing easily fifty times as much as the old plan (via Automaton). US-owned Monotype's pricing structure initially offered no local pricing for Japan, but still expected devs to cough up $20,500 per year, in addition to agreeing to a ridiculous 25,000-user cap on games using the licensed fonts.

Thankfully, the parent company has backpedalled a bit since, allowing developers to extend their licenses under the old affordable plan for the time being. But why such an astronomical price hike in the first place? Allegedly, heavy investment in AI that did not pay off for the company.

According to Monotype employee Mayur Pahwa, the company had "leaned heavily on the buzz surrounding artificial intelligence." He goes on to write, "Company leaders spoke enthusiastically about AI-driven typography solutions, hinting at a future where design and personalization would be automated at scale. Significant money and resources were funnelled into these projects, with entire engineering pods dedicated to experiments that promised to 'redefine the future of fonts.'"

Ultimately, a number of these AI projects were "shelved quietly, with little to show for the investment." What Pahwa calls Monotype's "AI Misadventure" allegedly resulted in waves of ongoing layoffs, and may now explain that astronomical font licensing fee; Monotype may be scrabbling to recoup its losses. Pahwa quotes one anonymous colleague, commenting on the situation, "We burned millions and got nothing. Now they’re cutting people to pay for those mistakes."

As for the Japanese game developers affected by the font fee hike, there's little good news to be found. Monotype doesn't just own Fontworks, and a number of other Japanese font makers feature among its portfolio; since Monotype was purchased by private equity firm HGGC back in 2019, the company has hoovered up Fontsmith, URW Type Foundry, as well as Hoefler & Co, according to Automaton. As such, there are few other reasonably priced services offering Japanese typefaces for devs to turn to.

Obviously, this is far from the only example of the twin villains of private equity or AI sinking their fangs into game development. To just point one more finger at AI, surging RAM and SSD prices mean Larian will be doing lots of optimisation in Divinity's early access, way ahead of the studio's original development schedule. As for private equity, I have only two letters for you: EA—though thankfully, Lincoln has many more letters and even a few hundred words on why EA's $55 billion acquisition has everyone terrified.

Bottom line, as Monotype's layoffs demonstrate, the concern is just how many people will be swept away by big tech's volatile whims.

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