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is software created by
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
hobbyists A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...
or hobbyist groups (referred to as "
circles A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...
"), more for fun than for profit. The term includes digital , which are essentially the Japanese equivalent of
independent video games An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...
or
fangame A fangame is a video game that is created by fans. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fangames attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, gameplay, and characters, but it ...
s (the term "''doujin'' game" also includes things like ''doujin''-made
board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...
s and
card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...
s, however, which are not covered in this article). ''Doujin'' soft is considered part of ''doujin katsudou'', for which it accounts for 5% of all ''doujin'' works altogether (as of 2015). Doujin soft began with
microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PC ...
s in Japan, and spread to platforms such as the MSX and
X68000 The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan. The initial model has a 10 Megahertz, MHz Motorola 68000 Central processing unit, CPU, 1 Megabytes, MB of Random Access Memory, RAM ...
. Since the 1990's, however, they have primarily for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
. Most ''doujin'' soft sales occur at ''doujin'' conventions such as
Comiket , more commonly known as or , is a semiannual ''doujinshi'' convention in Tokyo, Japan. A grassroots market focused on the sale of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, Comiket is a not-for-profit fan convention administered by the volunteer-ru ...
, with several that deal with doujin soft or doujin games exclusively such as Freedom Game (which further only allows games distributed for free) and Digital Games Expo. There is also a growing number of specialized
internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
sites that sell ''doujin'' soft. Additionally, more doujin games have been sold as downloads on consoles and PC stores such as Steam in recent years, through publishers such as Mediascape picking them up.


Digital doujin Games

''Doujin'' video games, like ''doujin'' soft, began with
microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PC ...
s in Japan, and spread to platforms such as the MSX and
X68000 The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan. The initial model has a 10 Megahertz, MHz Motorola 68000 Central processing unit, CPU, 1 Megabytes, MB of Random Access Memory, RAM ...
. From the 90's to 00's however, they were primarily exclusive to
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
. In recent years, more doujin games have been released on mobile platforms and home consoles. Though ''doujin'' games used to primarily be for home computers, more ''doujin'' games have been made available on gaming consoles in recent years. There are also doujin groups that develop software for retro consoles such as the
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...
and
Game Gear The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, ...
. Like
fangames A fangame is a video game that is created by fans. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fangames attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, gameplay, and characters, but it ...
, ''doujin'' games frequently use characters from existing games,
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
, or
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
("''niji sousaku''"). These unauthorized uses of characters are generally ignored and accepted by the copyright holders, and many copyright holders also issue guidelines stating that they allow ''niji sousaku'' as long as their guidelines are adhered to. There are also many ''doujin'' game titles which are completely original. While there are no statistics on the ratio of ''niji sousaku'' to original titles for doujin games specifically, as of 2015 88% of ''doujin'' altogether (including doujin games) was ''niji sousaku'' to some extent, with 63% being purely ''niji sousaku'' and only 12% being completely original. ''Doujin'' games typically did not get released outside Japan due to language barriers. Recently, Western publishers have been picking up these games for release in other markets, with one of the first known successful examples being '' Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale'', developed originally by EasyGameStation in 2007, and then localized and released by Carpe Fulgur in 2010 for English audiences, which had a modest success with over 300,000 units sold in these markets. ''Recettear'' release on the digital storefront
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
, which at the time had begun opening its catalog to third-party developers, further helped to introduce ''doujin'' to the West. This approach has been used to bring other ''doujin'' games, particularly visual novels and dating sims, to the West. Some titles sell well enough that their creators can make a full-time job out of what is typically an amateur hobby: For example TYPE-MOON and 07th Expansion originally released games as doujin games. One game,
French-Bread is a Japanese video game developer founded in 1995 as . Originally a dōjin circle, French Bread became well known for their work in 2D fighting games, particularly the ''Melty Blood'' series. In recent years, they worked on other licensed-based ...
's
brawler The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...
''
Ragnarok Battle Offline ''Ragnarok Battle Offline'' is a beat 'em up game for Microsoft Windows created by dojin soft developer French-Bread. The soundtrack is composed by Raito of Lisa-Rec. It is a homage and a spoof of the massively multiplayer online role-playing ...
'', a
homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...
/
spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...
of the
MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
''
Ragnarok Online ''Ragnarok Online'' ( ko, 라그나로크 온라인, marketed as ''Ragnarök'', and alternatively subtitled ''The Final Destiny of the Gods'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by Gravity based on the manhwa '' ...
'' so impressed Gravity Corp., the original game's designers, that it has been given an official release outside Japan.


Notable digital ''doujin'' game companies

* 07th Expansion: specializes in
visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
s, most notable for ''
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion that comprises the first two entries of the ''When They Cry'' franchise. The series focuses on a group of young friends living in the fic ...
'' and ''
Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a Japanese dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. Its first episode debuted at Comiket 72 for Windows on August 17, 2007. The story focuses on a group of eighteen people on a secluded island for a period of two ...
'' *
ABA Games ABA Games is a Japanese video game developer, composed solely of game designer Kenta Cho. ABA Games' works, available as Open source software, open source, are predominantly shoot 'em up games often inspired by classic games in the genre. Its ga ...
: specializes in
shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...
s with an abstract look. Most of their games are
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
. * EasyGameStation: produces a wide variety of games, from
brawler The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...
s to
role playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal a ...
s to
strategy games A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...
, most notably released '' Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale'', the first ''doujin'' game to be distributed on the
Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
platform overseas to great success *
French Bread This is a list of notable French breads, consisting of breads that originated in France. * Baguette – a long, thin type of bread of French origin. The "baguette de tradition française" is made from wheat flour, water, yeast, and common sal ...
: former ''doujin'' studio that specializes in 2D
fighting games A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as blocking, grappling, counter-attacking, and chaining attac ...
*
Team Shanghai Alice , formerly known as ZUN Soft, is a Japanese ''dōjin'' game developer. Since 1995, the sole member of the group, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has independently developed and self-published the ''Touhou Project'', a bullet hell shoot 'em up series, as we ...
: specializes in curtain fire
scrolling shooter In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...
s, most notable for ''
Touhou Project The , also known simply as , is a bullet hell shoot 'em up video game series created by one-man independent Japanese ''doujin'' soft developer Team Shanghai Alice. Since 1995, the team's member, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has independently developed ...
'' *
Twilight Frontier , known as Tasofro for short, is a Japanese ''dojin'' game developer. They are best known for their collaborations with Team Shanghai Alice (ZUN), which include seven official games in the '' Touhou Project'' series. Productions Games Music C ...
: specializes in a wide variety of games including
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
s and
platformer A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...
s * Type-Moon: former ''doujin'' studio that specializes in
visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
s most notable for ''
Tsukihime is a Japanese eroge, adult visual novel created by the doujin soft, dōjin circle Type-Moon, who first released it at the Comiket, Winter Comiket in December 2000. In 2003, it was adapted into both an anime television series, ''Lunar Leg ...
'' and ''
Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
'' franchises * Yotsubane: Creator of
shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...
Crimzon Clover is a vertically scrolling dōjin bullet hell game developed by Yotsubane and released at the 79th Comiket. Its name is a reference to the crimson clover, a species of clover native to Europe. Originally released for Windows on January 11, 2011 ...


See also

*
Fangame A fangame is a video game that is created by fans. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fangames attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, gameplay, and characters, but it ...
*
History of Eastern role-playing video games While the early history and distinctive traits of role-playing video games (RPGs) in East Asia come Video games in Japan, from Japan, many have also been Video games in South Korea, developed in South Korea and Video games in China, in China. ...
*''
RPG Maker RPG Maker, known in Japan as , is a series of programs for the development of role-playing video games (RPGs) with story-driven elements, created by the Japanese group ASCII, succeeded by Enterbrain. The Japanese name, ''Tsukūru'', is a pun mi ...
''


References


External links


Event report on doujin/indie soft event Digital Games ExpoBordersdown (formerly NTSC-UK) looks at ''Doujin'' soft fighting gamesJohn Szczepaniak on The Escapist looks at the ''Doujinsoft'' genre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doujin Soft Video game culture Popular culture Unofficial adaptations
Fangame A fangame is a video game that is created by fans. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fangames attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, gameplay, and characters, but it ...
Video game development Fan labor