2026 feels like the year that every video game publisher finally caught on to the fact that going all-in on live-service games makes absolutely no sense when every other publisher is also trying to go all-in on live-service games. Turns out that the anime and manga side of the coin has an analogous example, because the publishing conglomerate Kadokawa has just announced a 51.3-percent decrease in operating profits…and the shareholders think its obsession with isekais is to blame.
As spotted by Automaton, Kadokawa just released its March 2026 fiscal earnings report, and the Japanese publisher believes that the blame for its 51.3-percent decrease in operating profits, when compared against its March 2025 fiscal earnings report, lies in its “excessive reliance on existing winning patterns” and its “bias” towards “Isekai-type works.”
According to Kadokawa, its obsession with pumping out titles such as A Harem in a Fantasy World Labyrinth and The Daily Life of a Middle-Aged Online Shopper in Another World “also led to an increase in titles lacking originality or quality, and ultimately failed to result in the creation of any hit titles.” By the way, this is coming from the publishers of Isekai Quartet, which is an anime and manga about how Kadokawa publishes way too many isekai anime and manga.
The comparison between the anime industry’s waning obsession with isekais and gaming publishers’ lack of confidence in the games-as-a-service model writes itself, as 2026 is swiftly becoming a live-service graveyard. Amazon has been pulling the plug on its live-service offerings, Sega just got cold feet and cancelled its live service “Super Game,” Fortnite is clearly no longer the moneymaker it used to be, and Sony…well, its games-as-a-service killstreak is getting so high that it must be close to unlocking the tactical nuke.
Side note: In light of this, I find it funny that the manga publishing rights for Sword Art Online are owned by Kadokawa, and Sony, which owns the anime publishing rights, is one of Kadokawa’s largest shareholders. The anime that arguably kicked off the popularity of the isekai genre is literally about being trapped in a live-service game hellscape, which makes it either a self-fulfilling prophecy or a premonition of what was to come.
At the very least, isekais and live-service slop no longer being in vogue is all the proof I need that the world is finally healing. Crossing my fingers and praying that the AI bubble popping and RAM prices dropping are next up on the list.
