Voltage Inc. Representative Director Yuji Tsuya

Spreading its wings to the world by creating content that focuses on unique stories

Profile

Yuji Tsutani
Born in Fukui Prefecture, he graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo and worked at Hakuhodo for 10 years.
During that time, he studied film at the UCLA Film Directing Course.
At the age of 36, he founded Voltage Co., Ltd. and became its president.
In its seventh year since establishment, the company released its first romance game for women.
Voltage was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers in 2010, and on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange the following year.
In 2012, he established a SF studio in San Francisco and moved there himself, expanding into the US.
Returned to Japan in 2016.

"Art & Business" has been the company's philosophy since the company's founding. In fact, the origins of this catchphrase date back to President Tsuya's time at university. He has loved creative activities since childhood, and studied film abroad in his twenties. What is it about story-focused content production that only President Tsuya can aim for? We spoke passionately about Voltage's strengths and appeal.

■School days

During my student days, I gained a wide range of experiences. For example, I didn't just have the standard part-time job of a private tutor, I also worked as a waitress at a beer garden and as a warehouse staff member at a bookstore. Perhaps I had a strong desire to do something different from other people. There were many difficult times in my part-time jobs, but I learned what it was like to be in a customer-oriented business.

Then, as the time for job hunting approached, I decided to take a moment to sort out what I wanted to do. The way I did this was to write down everything that interested me on paper. I put down everything I could think of, such as what I wanted to do and what I was fundamentally interested in. After I had written a whole notebook's worth, I arrived at a catchphrase: "Art x Business." I've always loved creative activities, such as crafts. And I didn't want to assemble something ready-made, I wanted to create something myself from scratch. Thanks to this questioning of myself and the time I spent facing myself, I was able to clarify the core of what I wanted to do.

That moment when I almost gave up

After graduating from university, I joined Hakuhodo, a company in the advertising industry. I was doing well, but one weekend during my second year, I was at Naeba Ski Resort with some friends from university. That night, one of my friends suddenly mentioned that he was going to study for an MBA in the United States. I was surprised. However, as I listened to him talk, I also became very interested in studying abroad. When I looked into it, I found that there were film departments in graduate schools in the United States. I had always been interested in film and video, so I was inspired and decided to apply immediately.

However, it took me five years to pass the exam, and even after arriving in the US, I ran into a barrier with communicating in English, which left me feeling neurotic shortly after enrolling. Realizing that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the classes if I continued like this, I went to my professor on my second day of school to ask if I could take a leave of absence. I was at a loss as to what to do when he told me, "You can't do that because there won't be enough students to produce." Then, a senior Japanese student I was introduced to at the Student Affairs Office told me, "Be patient and listen to the lecture for 2 minutes. If you can do that, then be patient for another hour. Once you can do that, be patient for another three hours." There were many hardships and frustrations, but I just kept working hard, determined not to give up.

■ Starting a business and the hardships

I successfully graduated from graduate school in film. After returning to Japan, I went back to work at an advertising company and started an internet business as an in-house startup. However, I wasted my energy on the decision-making procedures of a large organization, and gradually I began to want to run my business on my own, rather than within a company. So I left Hakuhodo, where I had been working, and started my own company. I was 36 years old. My business involved creating story games with science fiction novelists introduced to me by an acquaintance, and distributing them on mobile phones. This was the precursor to the narrative game business that Voltage currently operates.

The following year, we created a mobile fighting game called "Battle Tokyo 23" and received an award. I continued to create content after that, but at the time I didn't have enough insight into business management, and we were in the red for the first four years. I caused my wife, who is now a director and has worked hard with me since the beginning, a lot of hardship. Now we are a listed company with hit content, but when I think back to those days, it was a constant struggle.

■ Attention to the story

Currently, the ratio of male to female employees at Voltage is 4:6. This is not something that is specifically decided at the recruitment stage, but rather because we end up attracting many talented women. After all, large companies still do not have a fully developed environment for women to thrive. At our company, regardless of gender, employees can start planning in-game content and events from the moment they join the company. In some cases, the plans of employees who have been with the company for a few years have become huge hits. It is true that there are many competitors in the content business.

Among them, Voltage's appeal lies primarily in its focus on story, placing more emphasis on story than gameplay. For example, one of its games has a theme of "fake marriage," in which multiple male characters become involved with a single female protagonist. Rather than being entertaining as a game, the story is entertaining, allowing players to enjoy the complex human relationships and characters like in a movie. I think this is what differentiates it from other companies. Another factor is that its games are primarily aimed at women. Women have strong attachments to story developments and characters, and will not be satisfied with a half-baked scenario. Every time we create a new title, we thoroughly discuss the setting, character settings, and plot, putting in a lot of effort. We also make a small number of games aimed at men, and we put just as much effort into developing them.

Therefore, the type of people we are looking for as a company are people who are committed to the content business. Not only do we find it fun to create content, but we also need people who are committed to making it into a viable business. We are currently adapting various titles into not only apps but also stage plays and films, and we would like to continue to grow this even further in the future.

■Message to university students

You may be worried about not being able to find what you want to do, or having too many things you want to do, but ultimately you have to narrow it down to one thing. What you need to keep in mind here is that consumption activity and production activity are completely different things. For example, don't simply assume that you should work in the game industry because you like games. Simply playing games is consumption activity, and not work. Work is production activity, so you need to be able to immerse yourself in creating stories and games. Think from the perspective of what you want to produce and provide to society. It is very important to understand your core values ​​while you are a student. Take the time to really ask yourself these questions.

Student newspaper WEB coverage on November 30, 2020

　Keio University, 1st year student, Miyu Ito

Keio University freshman Miyu Ito / Tsuda University junior Aki Kawanami / Komazawa University senior Hideki Anzai