Why cross-cultural understandings matters in game dev—and how to find the right team to work with 

By Julien Proux, Chief Content Officer, Room 8 Group 

The 2012 open-world game Sleeping Dogs is viewed by many as an Asia-based answer to Grand Theft Auto. Set in Hong Kong, over the years it has achieved cult status for its exotic world, the subtlety and depth of its narrative, and the richness of the culture that emanates from it, from the plot to the characters to the gameplay.

On a more personal level, Sleeping Dogs marked a pivotal moment in my journey as a developer—one that led me to reflect on the deep cultural differences between it and GTA. In some ways these differences illuminate the challenges that the industry is facing at the moment.

GTA’s plot is individualistic to its core. It’s centered around a person’s journey to build wealth and status, even if that is sometimes expressed through different perspectives.

On the surface, Sleeping Dogs might look similar—an undercover police officer proves himself to a criminal gang, rises through the ranks, guns and cars wreak havoc, et cetera. For a game set in Asia, it’s still somewhat individualistic in terms of goals, probably influenced by the vision of the publisher and its mostly Western team. (Me being of French origin didn’t help much in that sense.)

From Geert Hofstede’s six dimensions of national culture. China, North/South Korea, and Japan are all significantly more collectivist than North America and Western Europe.  

But at a deeper level, it is different in important ways, culturally speaking. 

Its plot is more collectivist than most Western games. It explores concepts familiar to Chinese or Japanese or Korean cultures: the protagonist infiltrates the Triad, gangs with ancient history throughout Asia, to which tales of honor and responsibility are central, as are familial relationships. Those themes are much more visible in stories that come from the region than from Western cultures.

Sleeping Dogs is an interesting example through which to show the subtle cultural differences between games in Eastern and Western cultures. To make games for a global audience, we have to be aware of such differences.

And in a global industry, there are practical ways to toe that line.

Understanding the East-West contrast 

As Chinese companies seem to pull out of the West and tension in global trade grows by the day, it may seem more challenging than ever to make games for a global audience. Still it is a worthwhile endeavor. More than that, I would say  it is necessary. Gaming has the power to bridge cultural divides in ways few other artforms can. To do this, game-makers must find common ground—metaphorically and literally. 

But how? 

The sociologist Geert Hoftstede theorized six dimensions of national culture—individualism versus collectivism, indulgence versus restraint, and so on. On several dimensions, Eastern cultures are on one end of the spectrum, Western cultures (particularly North American) are on the other, and European cultures are somewhere in the middle: 

From Geert Hofstede’s six dimensions of national culture 

Of course this is a generalization. Korea is not the same as Malaysia; the US is not the same as Germany — East and West aren’t homogenous regions. But from 30,000 feet there are some clear, common differences between them, and when teams from both ends of the spectrum come together to make art, visions can collide.

For example, a significant number of Chinese and Japanese studios have ventured into and then pulled out of North America in recent years. Some have struggled to work with teams in the region because there are many differences that require understanding and compromise to overcome: management styles, their respective visions for the game, the way they communicate with one another and so on. 

Asian communication style tends to be implied and context driven. At times this comes in conflict with more direct Western communication, which is more direct and where confrontation is more palatable.

Source: World Economic Forum. The way people communicate depends heavily on the culture they come from. 

The way teams make decisions is culturally dependent, too. Teams in Asia tend to make decisions through consensus, consulting many layers of staff and prioritizing team harmony. North American decision-making more top-down, speedier, and in a way that emphasizes individual accountability. 

I’ve seen this in my own career. Colleagues in Asia have sometimes expressed discomfort with differences in communication—not because the other perspective is wrong, but because such disparate perspectives are prone to disagreement.   

So what can be done? If we accept that large, modern game IP with trans-media ambitions have to reach a global audience, what steps might we take to prevent culture clashes when working together?  

Finding common ground—literally  

We need nexuses of mutual understanding.  

Given that according to Hofstede’s theory of national culture, Europe lands in the middle of East and West not just geographically but also in terms of culture, Europe can be a mediator between Asia (like Japan, China, Korea) and the West (particularly Canada and the US). Even their timezones overlap in Europe. 

Asia-based devs who feel friction when working with American partners are opting for Central European ones instead. This isn’t just theory—companies are doing this now.

Their working style usually aligns more closely with European teams than with North American ones. The Europe-based production teams are perfectly placed to be this bridge, culturally speaking, because Asian studios are searching for compromises.

Saudi Arabia is another example. This is by design. Its Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, envisions the country as a global hub for gaming. The country—like other future gaming hubs, such as the United Arab Emirates—is in build mode. It is striving to be a place that connects the global gaming market, as shown by its massive esports push (Saudi Arabia funds and hosts the Esports World Cup, whose prize pool was $60m in 2024). The country is building next-generation game development studios, and in doing so, has attracted top talent from America, France and so on, who have decades of experience across many markets, from Korea to France to India. 

These nexuses of mutual understanding are vital for making games for a global audience. They allow working styles—and in turn, visions for the games themselves—to coalesce rather than repel. 

Such ‘middleman’ teams can take the ideas of the developer and, where appropriate, adapt them for, or at least help with communicating them to, a different audience. They can make suggestions about cultural context at the earliest stages of development. And above all else, working with a team that is different, but not too different, from your own is a good way for the IP holder to ensure they execute their vision without constantly butting heads with people who have different ideas.  

Why gaming is different 

Of all art forms, gaming is uniquely positioned to transcend cultural boundaries and bring us together.  

In literature, language barriers can be insurmountable. Films often rely on culturally dependent storytelling conventions. Video games, on the other hand, operate on a more universal level. The mechanics of play—challenge, reward, exploration, competition—are deeply human. 

Despite our differences, we in the games industry are in a better position than most to make art for a global audience. Working with teams who are better positioned to sympathize with both your cultural perspective and those of others is vital for achieving this. 

The future of global gaming lies in these cultural bridges: in teams that can span East and West, who take center ground and help find compromises. 

In a world that feels increasingly divided, games offer a space where understanding can grow—and the right team can help make that happen.

Julien Proux is a games industry ancient with extensive experience in game development, publishing, and international collaboration across France, Germany, Ukraine, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, the US and beyond.