Hey there! I'm Yoshinori Ono, CEO at Lasengle.
Welcome to my blog and thanks for dropping by!
This month I headed overseas, my first trip in a while, to attend the New York Comic Con (NYCC).
At the last NYCC, the pandemic meant there were fewer corporate booths, exhibits, and attendees, but this year felt like about 80% of the pre-pandemic energy had returned.
There were also more Japanese media and entertainment brands and franchises present. I sat in on a couple of panel sessions and had a bunch of great takeaways.
It might just be me, but I've always thought that attendees to the San Diego Comic Con on the west coast have a different vibe to the east coast NYCC. I dunno, but it just feels like Japanese media and entertainment is something more familiar and accessible to the NYCC crowd. Whether or not that's true, Japanese brands had a very visible presence at NYCC.
With the pandemic, I've been spending more time joining these kinds of events online. While I appreciate the convenience, nothing beats being there in-person. Standing there at panel sessions, soaking up the atmosphere as I watched the presenters talk and the attendees react was a reminder of what a great experience these conventions are.
I wonder if we'll ever get to a stage where technology can recreate the atmosphere of being at an event, to the level where you can no longer tell the difference between virtually and literally attending. But even if we did, it'd be hard to replace the joy of accidentally bumping into an old colleague or friend.
A few blogs back, I talked about how we're holding quarterly offsite meetings with some of the key decision makers at Lasengle.
We use these meetings to check in on progress with current titles, to see where we are on preparing for the next three, five years, and if goals are aligned across departments.
When we first started these offsite meetings, the presentations ended with little discussion or Q&A. But gradually, the meetings became more interactive and dynamic, to the point where it's become an opportunity for everyone at Lasengle to consider and propose where we should be heading.
Above is a photo of our most recent offsite. The meeting fell at the end of the second financial quarter, so topics centered around the second half of the financial year, while also sharing thoughts on the goals for the next three and five years.
One of the topics up for discussion was the kind of talent we need to hire, to build the future we want for Lasengle.
Last year, we joined the Sony Group. It provided us with an opportunity to start strengthening recruitment, including with new university graduate hires, who we welcomed on board in April 2024.
Here's a couple of photos from the welcome event.
Of course, it's not just graduates we're onboarding. We've had creators at all stages of their career come and join the team at Lasengle.
That's why it's so important that we have a shared understanding of the kind of talent we need. It means that, whenever someone joins, whatever role or whatever stage of their career, whatever department, they can feel a part of the team.
We've also decided to roll out an internship program, which is a great way to learn about Lasengle first-hand. Click the banner below to find out more (information in Japanese only).
Visit here for more details on the 1-day workshop for engineers.
And if you can handle more information, we've put together a virtual tour of our office, to give you a feel of what it's like to work at Lasengle:
So, if you're someone who wants to work with games, whether it's developing them or supporting creators behind the scenes, then visit our Careers page and check out our open positions. We'd love to welcome you on board as we bring "doki doki" and excitement to the world of gaming!
...and another blog ends without me getting round to a game review. Sorry! I promise, next time I'll start sharing some of the titles that have been piling up.
Until then!
Yoshinori X（Twitter）