Yoko Taro’s Answer to Getting Flamed Online: Become the Joker.

Japanese game developers Yoko Taro and Yusuke Shiokawa met for a Denfaminicogamer discussion to attempt to answer the question, “What should creators do when they get flamed on the internet?” Taro, best known for his work as the director of the 2017 action RPG NieR: Automata, said it may be too late for Shiokawa, the former creative director of the massive mobile game Fate/Grand Order. He also advised becoming the Joker in response to such reactions. [Thanks, Denfaminicogamer!]

Before Shiokawa left the company Delightworks in 2022, there were a few instances in which the words he posted on social media were skewed and misunderstood. When he asked Taro for advice on being liked by the general public and avoiding his words being taken out of context, Taro came to the conclusion that it may be simply impossible.

Here is Yoko Taro’s exact response from the Denfaminicogamer discussion:

This person is no good, and will never get better. Mr. Shiokawa is sincere about making games, but his word choice is overwhelmingly bad.

Shiokawa noted he long accepted the idea that getting flamed online is part of his job. Though it has been happening more as he transitioned to being an independent producer, he said, “I’m not going to do anything about it.”

Taro then brought up the notion that in a large pool of people that engage with a creator’s posts, only a small fraction of them might go to the extreme of attacking them. Even still, that number can add up proportionally. Taro called this a “tax on fame.”

Taro then recommended doing what he often does, which is muting users that bother him. He also thought it would be helpful to have an assistant that could moderate posts and replies, since it can be too much for one person to bear.

Taro and Shiokawa also came to the agreement that, as a creator, it is better to be flamed than to not be talked about at all. Specifically, Shiokawa said, “Indifference is the scariest thing.” Taro concurred, “Getting flamed is a luxurious problem… there are not many people who are famous enough to get flamed.”

Taro and Shiokawa ended their discussion by concluding that Shiokawa’s bad reputation would likely never disappear in today’s day and age of social media and the internet.

It is then that Yoko Taro said in the Denfaminicogamer interview:

I think the only way forward is to go to the extreme of being no good, like the Joker from Batman. That is my advice. Become the Joker.

Shiokawa agreed that he should embrace the darkness and not hide his faults.

Fate/Grand Order is available for mobile devices. Yoko Taro’s most recent game is 404 Game Re:set, which is on mobile devices in Japan.