I used to go when tickets were under 10,000 yen. Now who in the fuck who isn’t a student (and who isn’t in a company that can pay) can afford a 25,000 to 30,000 yen ticket!
I am a game programmer by hobby. But I am retired and can’t afford these new prices. Every since David Helgason left and that new guy took over Unity hasn’t been the same.
Hosting an event is expensive and it only becomes worse when everything involved in it increases in cost. This is further compounded by the fact that they choose a large city where many different events are competing for the same space with the result being that just about every event out there is now around this cost (E3 is $300 USD, PAX is $300, GDC is $2,499).
But three times as much it was before?
Wow I can do $300 but now I know I’ll never be able to go to a GDC =(
Also capitalism at its best. There are companies who can afford it mainly because they can lower their taxes with the amount or at least a portion of it. So they send their people to these events. The struggling beginners, who really need networking and all the programs cannot afford it. These are becoming more and more corporate events because of this.
But that’s okay. Not ideal, but okay, you just need to find another way to do the same (promote your game, build your network, learn your craft).
How many years has it been since the last Unite Tokyo?
they should have student pricing