Tomoharu Saito, the artist behind the iconic pixel art of Astro Boy: Omega Factor, tragically lost a leg during his work on this game. This came to light when Tetsu ‘Tez’ Okano, who also on the Dreamcast RPG Segagaga, provided insights on the circumstances.
“Because of this work, he was delayed in going to the hospital, lost one of his legs, and finally died,” says Okano.
Tomoharu Saito was known for his contributions to a variety of classic games such as Streets of Rage 2, Gourmet Warriors, and Gunstar Super Heroes. His passion for illustrating games was profound but exacted a high cost on his personal health.
- Cause Of Death: Cancer synovial sarcoma, which led to amputation and, later, lung cancer.
- Work: Saito was a freelancer for multiple companies including Sega, Masaya, and Cave. He later worked as a full-time employee at Square before returning to freelancing.
The sacrifices made by Tomoharu Saito highlight the often-overlooked human side of game development. His dedication to his craft was unquestionable but comes with a heavy toll on personal well-being.
Saito said “legs aren’t necessary in the illustration industry”. What do you think this says about the game development industry?
Damn, didn’t know he died. The headline should be:
Omega factor artist Tomoharu Saito lost a leg, and then his life, due to working on the game
Yeah, this might be the most egregious case of burying the lead, what the hell.
“The sacrifices made by Tomoharu Saito highlight the often-overlooked human side of game development”
That’s such a toxicly positive spin on saying “Japanese game industry work-life balance was so bad that it literally killed people”
Is. Continues to be. And it isn’t just Japan. Worldwide, the games industry has always had horrible work-life balance (some cases being better or worse than others, of course).
I went to college to go into the industry 10 years ago and never did because of the things our professors (who were all industry veterans, some still actively working in the industry and some having been in the industry since the 80s) told us. “Nobody makes video games because they want to get rich.” Upon graduation with a 4 year degree (and a hundred thousand in debt probably), I was expected to make the same annually as I did if I worked year-round at my summer job. Everybody today talks about crunch time as a problem in industries. Video games are crunch time. We were told to expect to work on a project for 4 years, with the last few months being spent in the office 7 days a week, no holidays, and orobably eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the office. Maybe even sleeping there as well. Clocking out after 8 hours would be seen as being a traitor to the company. And after a project ships? Dust off your resume, because unless you’re senior level, you’re gonna be fired as the company downsizes until the next project.
The mass layoffs the past 3 years have been worse each year than in the 2008 recession. There are people working at the Blizzard main office who live out of their cars because they can’t afford an apartment within commuting distance of the office. The list goes on and on. And they can get away with it because they’re exploiting the passion of people who just want to make something that people will enjoy and there’s an endless stream of starry-eyed college kids ready to throw themselves into the grinder.
Glad he shared this. Saito worked on a lot of great games. I had no idea who he was but enjoyed his work.
Gun Hazard is one of my favorite games. I’ll think about him during the next play-through.
