Job Description
Shapefarm is a development studio, based in Japan, owned by games publisher, Kepler Interactive.
We are looking for a bilingual community manager (Japanese and English speaking) to lead on the localisation of our global community and strategy for a new release title into the Japanese market.
You will take marketing direction from Kepler’s vision and go-to-market strategy led by our central marketing team to ensure consistency in key messaging, and engaging the local audience, whilst working closely with the development team to represent the voice of our players internally.
This role bridges the gap between players and developers, ensuring the community feels heard and excited about our products, while also executing targeted marketing initiatives that drive engagement and growth in both the Japanese and global markets.
Experience (junior, mid-level, etc.): Intermediate
Candidates can apply from: Japan only
Visa sponsorship support: Available
Annual salary: 7,000,000 JPY
Responsibilities
Strategy and planning
- Define and implement local community strategies for the Japanese market, for each game across different stages (pre-announcement, development, early access, launch, post-launch), according to the global marketing plans.
- Build and maintain our community playbooks, tone & voice guidelines, and engagement best practices for the Japanese community
Community engagement
- Manage and moderate official local community channels (e.g., Discord, Twitter/X, Steam Forums, Reddit as well as other dedicated Japanese social networks)
- Regularly engage with our Japanese players through posts, polls, AMAs, and live chat
- Answer questions, share updates, and spark conversations in a consistent and friendly tone
- Spotlight community content, feedback, and fan creations
Listening and feedback
- Monitor sentiment and trends within the community and gaming spaces
Collect, summarise, and present community feedback to the dev team in a clear, actionable format - Create monthly reports highlighting growth, engagement, issues, and opportunities
Community events and campaigns
- Plan and host online events such as playtests, community challenges, developer Q&As, livestreams, etc.
- Collaborate with artists and streamers for community spotlights, giveaways, and contests
Moderation and health
- Maintain a welcoming, inclusive, and respectful environment on all platforms
- Set and enforce community guidelines, working with volunteer mods if needed
Address toxicity and conflicts with care and professionalism
Marketing
- Content and social media
- Plan and execute social media content calendars (e.g., Discord, Twitter/X, Instagram, Tik Tok, Steam Forums, Reddit as well as other dedicated Japanese social networks)
- Write and schedule engaging posts about development updates, milestones, and behind-the-scenes content
- Help craft dev blogs, patch notes, and announcement posts with the team
Campaign support
- Assist in planning and executing indie-friendly launch campaigns (e.g., Steam Next Fest, Kickstarter, Early Access)
- Coordinate with influencers, press, and content creators for promotion
- Track performance and tweak campaigns based on engagement data
Creative collaboration
- Work with artists, devs, and external partners to create visual content (memes, trailers, banners, devlogs)
- Capture gameplay footage in early versions of the Game as well as behind-the-scenes content in studio
- Support the studio's overall branding and storytelling
Qualifications
Required:
- Experienced in community management, social media, or marketing (preferably in gaming or creative industries)
- Fluent in English and Japanese (written and spoken)
- Deep familiarity with Discord, Steam, Twitter/X, Reddit, and other gamer-centric platforms, especially in Japan.
- Strong writing skills with a fun, authentic, and adaptable voice
Capacity to create content in full autonomy, including basic static graphic assets creation and video editing skills, as well as a familiarity with build capture or a willingness to learn - Comfortable working in a small, fast-paced, collaborative team
- Passionate about indie games and player-first communication, with a strong knowledge of the Japanese entertainment culture (anime, pop culture, video games.)
Bonus Points For:
- Experience working on indie titles or crowdfunded projects
- Knowledge of community-building tools (e.g., Discord bots, analytics platforms)
- Experience in early-access, betas, or live service games
About the Company
Shapefarm is an independent game developer based in a peaceful district of Tokyo, Japan. The company was founded in 2010 and has proven experience shipping games and a strong creative process over the years.
In 2014, Shapefarm founded the company Friend & Foe to co-develop the game Vane. Since then, Shapefarm has grown with a team of 20 creative and high-skilled professionals coming from all over the video game industry, all sharing the same passion for making the best games possible.
Shapefarm’s projects range from Prototyping, Concept Design, R&D to pure high-level content creation. We work with big commercial clients, game studios and several publishers in Hollywood, making games, animations, developing ideas and realizing dreams. We are fully dedicated to delivering creative excellence and quality from a strong artistic foundation
Today, besides our collaborative projects in partnership with several high-profile clients, we are focusing on developing our own IP.