- About Toroneko | Consulting for Game Business
About Toroneko | Consulting for Game Business
Japanese / English
Hello, I’m Toroneko.
Thank you for your interest in my work.
On this page, I will explain in detail:
what I can and cannot help with
how I work with clients
common types of consulting requests
and more.
Who is Toroneko, and what does he do?
If I had to summarize what I do, it would be this:
I help companies make games work as a business by bridging areas that are often treated separately, such as development, live operations, and marketing.
My role is not to execute tactics or take over operations.
Instead, I work with you to think through questions such as:
“Is this the right direction to move in?”
“What should we avoid doing right now?”
What Toroneko believes are the conditions for success in the game business
After many years of working in games, I have come to feel that there are clear patterns behind when a game business succeeds and when it starts to go off track.
Here, I have summarized what I believe are the most important conditions for success in the game business, as simply as possible.
When optimization experts become the main decision-makers, the chances of creating a successful new IP go down.
They are strong at improving existing assets, but weak at finding the next breakout hit.
What makes a game a hit is creative instinct. What grows it is numbers.
What kills a company is getting that order backwards.
Of course, I am not saying numbers are unnecessary.
Numbers can help you identify areas with potential.
But entertainment does not come from numbers.
At the core of entertainment is human emotion.
Once you try to handle emotion only through numbers, the things that matter most are often labeled “wasteful” or “inefficient,” and then removed in the name of optimization.
That is why success in the game business comes from creative first × marketing driven.
It is important to understand both instinct and numbers, and to work in the right order.
In reality, there are not many people who can handle both within the same decision-making process.
That is where I come in. I help connect those two sides and think through what should be decided first from a business perspective.
Common situations where people reach out to me
Most of the work I have been asked to do tends to start at moments like these:
“We are developing a game, but something feels off.”
“We cannot organize what we should do to improve our KPIs.”
“We are worried about whether our new game will succeed.”
“We are struggling with how to reboot an existing title.”
“We keep having more meetings, but decisions are not moving forward.”
“There are disagreements within the company.”
Every team is different, but there is one thing many of these situations have in common.
What people usually want is not simply “the answer.”
More often, they want help organizing the information and conditions needed to reach the right answer.
How I work
As a basic principle:
I do not execute tactics or run operations.
I work remotely in principle.
Instead, I review your materials and the state of your game or business, and provide input on:
risks that are easy to overlook
priorities
what should not be done
At the same time, I understand that when an external advisor gets involved, some teams worry that it may make things harder for the people on the ground.
I am very conscious of that, because I have been in that position myself many times.
That is why I do not step into execution or operations, and I do not dismiss the way the team works or the decisions they make.
I stay focused on clarifying the basis for decisions and the order of priorities.
The people on the ground are the ones doing the real work.
What matters to me is creating a situation where their work can move forward more smoothly.
What Toroneko can and cannot do
This is something I get asked about often, so let me explain clearly.
What I can do
Organizing marketing strategy and KPI design
Identifying business risks and failure factors
Serving as a discussion partner for decision-making
In many cases, I am asked to serve as a discussion partner for issues related either to individual game titles or to the game business as a whole.
More specifically, many of these consultations relate to the kinds of issues I cover in my Game Marketing 100 List, organized by phase.
What I cannot do
Ad operations or outsourced analysis work
Ongoing participation in all meetings
I would appreciate it if you understand in advance that this is not a marketing outsourcing service.
Fees
Since I am often asked about fees, I would like to share the general guideline here in advance.
(As a rule, I ask for a minimum contract period of three months.)
This is only a rough guideline. If the scope is limited, I can also propose a more focused arrangement.
Please also note that any projects I am involved in will not be disclosed externally as case studies or used in sales materials.
Everything is handled on a strictly confidential basis.
About Toroneko
Lastly, let me tell you a little about myself.
In broad terms, this is who I am:
Experience in both console and mobile games
Worked in both marketing and producer roles
Involved in more than 60 titles
* console games + live-service online games combined, counting only work done while employed at major game companies
Experience across the full lifecycle, from planning to launch to service closure
If you want a better sense of what I can do, I think reading the articles on this site will help.
Since founding Toroneko Marketing Inc. in 2020, I have had the opportunity to support many game companies.
* Click here for company information.
In closing
Finally, I would like to share a little of my honest perspective as Toroneko.
After spending 25 years in the game industry, I have seen many times how, inside game companies, development and marketing, and the frontline teams and management, often fail to work together smoothly.
That is exactly why I try not to take one side or another.
I focus on playing the role of the person in the middle who helps sort things out.
If we are all going to work in games, I want that work to be as constructive and enjoyable as possible.
If I can be helpful in that role, I would be very happy.
You do not need to come to me with everything fully organized.
It is perfectly fine to start by simply sharing:
what you are struggling with right now
what you are unsure about
a rough outline of the situation
Please feel free to contact me by email.
contact_us@gamemarketinglab.com
Examples of specific consultation topics
Here are some examples of the kinds of consultations I often receive.
For mobile game companies
New title concept reviews
Identifying issues and countermeasures for titles in development
Reviewing concerns before launch
Improvement reviews for live titles
User acquisition, retention, and improving purchase motivation
Improvements for app store presence, advertising, and live operations measures
Reviewing the content of marketing strategy and promotional plans
I am often consulted at phases such as:
“concept stage” → “in development” → “pre-launch” → “around launch” → “post-launch”
For console game companies
There is overlap with mobile game companies, but in the case of console game companies, I am also often asked about topics such as:
Strategy and measures for retail distribution
How to think about effective promotion
Strategy and initiative planning to bridge the gap until the next title
Brand strategy to increase IP value
In addition, I sometimes receive requests for ASO consulting, or broader discussions around how to avoid failure in the game business.
Please feel free to get in touch.
Appendix
Finally, I would like to introduce some of the documents and services available on this site. I hope you find them useful.
What Toroneko has done so far
If I were to summarize my background, it would look like this:
Experience in promotion and marketing for both console and mobile games
Experience as a game producer for both console and mobile games
Involved in more than 60 game titles
(not including work after starting my own company)
Able to cover the full lifecycle from planning to launch to service closure
Able to advise on all major areas needed in the game business
I have worked on everything from mobile games generating over JPY 1 billion in monthly sales to half-million-selling console titles, covering the full lifecycle from launch to release to service closure. My strength is being able to work across the full stack, from upstream to downstream.
Today, as the representative of Toroneko Marketing Inc., I support clients in the position of an external marketing advisor who helps with decision-making in the game business.
Three marketing phases
Marketing to create
Marketing to deliver
Marketing to keep delivering
These three phases allow me to cover every phase of your product.
I support not only new and existing titles, but also a wide range of stages and platforms, from game development through console games, mobile games, and PC games.
For the areas I can cover, please see the Game Marketing 100 List below.
Toroneko’s Game Marketing 100 List
contact_us@gamemarketinglab.com
