Yuki Doi, Tokyo

Yuki Doi runs a private gaming room in Tokyo called Vaultroom that allows video game enthusiasts, musicians, actors, talents to gather in a stylish, private location, equipped with top-notch hardware, to let loose and enjoy a couple of rounds of their favourite game. Sitting  at the intersection of gaming, art and fashion, Vaultroom has its finger on the pulse of time, with each room featuring pop culture artefacts such as Supreme posters or Bearbricks. Although not originally launched as a community project [“I just wanted to turn my vacant room in my office into a gaming room and invite people that I like”], it quickly grew and expanded to three spaces - two in Shibuya and one in Fukuoka - and together with influential Harajuku fashion retailer GR8, they  also released their first collaborative merch collection. Originally dreamt up to fill a void that he saw in gaming culture, Yuki Doi wanted to reintroduce a social element to gaming culture. “The current mainstream is online games where you don't have to stay together with your friends to play games”, he explained. “I felt that even if you are playing with your friends, online games still made me feel isolated and I missed high fiving with friends when I won. So I wanted an environment where four people could sit next to each other and play games together with some drinks.” 

How would you explain the gaming world to someone, from a wide-angle lens point of view?

I thought that gaming culture is not cool, also I felt that everyone thinks the same too, and that is why I have started Vaultroom to make the culture cooler. My main job is in fashion so I was seeking how to transit gaming culture to the fashion world. I don't really like the word Esports because I cannot imagine anything from the word. There are so many people who want to make the gaming world into a culture but no one could.

What excites you about gaming culture at the moment?

I think that virtual YouTubers are interesting because you use a virtual character which isn't dependent on yourself. It would be interesting if a collaboration with Dior or something happens. At the same time because of Covid, many celebrities started to talk about games. It used to be taboo to talk about games because they don't want to make an impression as “Otaku”, which is uncool. However, these days many celebrities officially claim that they are game fans and that makes the game culture cooler so I am really glad that the game world is getting popular. The average age in the current game world is pretty young that they are not interested in fashion or styling. I think that it would be even better if the viewer can get information about both games and fashion.

Who do you see on the cutting edge in gaming culture?

There is a Japanese team called Crazy Racoon and the owner is like an influencer. He has held competitions that attracted many game fans. However they are not cool or fashionable. So if there are people who think that Crazy Racoon is cool, the culture would stay unfashionable. They only focus on the games that have got young fans so fashion does not become popular among them. It is nice to be pop to attract young people but that does not mean it’s fashionable.

In the States there are many cool gamers teams such as FaZe, and there are teams who want to be like that but I think that it is not doing well. The team which has a good sense of design is Jupiter. When it comes to Japanese gamers I am not sure how much he can influence people but Taiyo who belongs to a team in San Francisco called San Fransisco Shock which is a winner of the biggest tournament called Overwatch. He is one of a few Japanese who belongs to a foreign top team. He is half Japanese and half American and he is bilingual.

Outside of gaming, what industries or realms are intrinsically linked with gaming when it comes to the culture?  

I would say music is linked the most. If you watch youtube there are  always game soundtracks. Also manga artists are linked too especially for virtual gamers who need someone to draw icons.

In Japan, twitter is very relevant to games whereas other countries’ mainstream is Instagram. I think Twitter spreads information faster in Japan. I think adidas has an impact only on pro esports teams because sports teams are esportsmen’s reference.

What are the things you wish were different in the culture of gaming personally? 

I don't think I would like game culture to change because there are actually quite a few cool people out there, just we cannot know what they look like because mostly games are online.

I would say items sold by game companies could go better because everything is so fashionable. The other day we started selling our original items which we sold at GR8 and online. GR8 is a multi-brand boutique that also sells Balenciaga, and there was a long queue on the first day. It was surprising to see that there were many fashionable people in the queue. That made me realise that there are many different types of people who enjoy playing games, there are fashionable gamers too. When you play online games you don't know what other players are like. There is a stereotype that gamers equal Otaku, but if you meet them in real life more people than you think are cool. 

Do fashion brands get involved with gaming culture at all?

I have never seen any fashion brand that has done a successful collaboration with gamers or gaming teams. I've seen that Nike x Travis Scott x Play Station and Balenciaga x Playstation but you really have to choose who to collaborate with. You cannot  casually come up with an idea with Esports x something cool. I think it would be cooler if adidas created a game team with Y-3 uniform. And I don't think it has to be pro, it can be a live streamer group. adidas can support unique individuals like what Red Bull did.

How inclusive and diverse do you find the culture of gaming to be? 

I think it is very diverse and inclusive because it really doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman, what your sexualities are or how you look. Also I can feel that the game itself is catching up with the current understanding about diversity. For example there are bisexual or gay characters too. I think that is because the games were created in Japan. I think in game culture it is already quite diverse. You never know that even if the virtual Youtuber’s character is a girl it could be run by a man in the 40s. So it really doesn’t matter who you really are, which I think is inclusive. 

The interesting thing about communication in online gaming is that there are so many different people in the bubble. From a super well-known celebrity to a middle school student in Osaka. And they play games together and communicate just because their timing matched up. I think it is a good thing. You can learn a lot through online games such as how to behave yourself in front of adults. If you are just a child in the gaming world, nobody cares about you.

Are there any other barriers to inclusion?

Language barriers should be fixed easily. Most Japanese gamers including myself cannot speak English or other languages so it would be really cool if we can understand each other immediately. 

Are there any social issues that do need to be addressed in the culture? 

I think it is possible to develop generosity and morals about this. Japan has got so many gamers over the past 2 years, and some people started earning so much money. However the streamers always bear in mind that they shouldn't be open about his or her clear opinion because you never know what happens when the viewers become furious about what you have said. I think that is not a great thing because the more you care about the viewers, the worse the viewer behaves.

Is sustainability an issue that comes up in gaming culture?

 I don't like that kind of topic, it makes me feel that brands are using that word for marketing. I have an image of sustainability in Japan which is that you have to do it so you buy whatever says it is “sustainable”, but I don't think that people in game society are thinking about sustainability. If they do, they wouldn't make their original items only cost ¥2000. I don't really like cheap original items because at the end of the day you don't cherish a t-shirt that you bought for 2000 as long as you have a special feeling to it. The more you think about the convenient price for customers, the worse it is for people to be conscious about sustainability. 

Is there anything that game culture could be doing around environmental issues?

If a famous gamer talks about climate change, more people would know what it is, but it is not really interesting as a gamer’s content. I think it would attract people more if someone created a  really interesting game about modern issues such as climate change. There is a game that you can learn how to grow rice. It became really popular so I think this has potential.

What would you like to see from adidas in gaming culture?

Whatever I see from adidas makes me feel that I've already seen the same thing before, so they have to do something that no one else has tried to do. I think they need to make something from scratch rather than make something that already exists in a weird way. They can do all different things to support game culture by sponsoring teams or organising competitions. I just think that they need to do something cool. Don't do something like cheap instagrammer marketing where you support a random team without knowing who they are or what they do. 

How do you feel about outside brands getting involved with game culture?

I think it is a great thing but I don't see any cool items. I want a collaboration of Supreme with skaters. They do skate so they know about skating and the culture. I don't want brands to collaborate with Esports when they don't play games whatsoever because we can tell when the collaboration has no love behind. I think it is interesting that Balenciaga made a videogame of a collaboration, but I don't really like virtual exhibitions. I want to appreciate art by looking at it.

Are there any outside brands that you think have got it right?

Other than Balenciaga, I think that a collaboration between PlayStation and Travis Scott was so cool. Also, the trophy of LOL by Louis Vuitton was amazing. Also it made me realise how big FaZe is by the collaboration with Takashi Murakami. The most important thing about collaborations is how much you know about those cultures. Also it depends on what kind of gamers you want to attract. The result would be totally different if you decide to do a pop-up in Akihabara or Dover Street Market. At the very beginning, a lot of brands don't know anything about the game. They only know about the amount of sales they made. Also in most cases they can't choose the right gamers to give the gift to. I don't want brands to make Esports line, I want them to collaborate properly like Playstation x Travis Scott x Nike. adidas needs to surprise people. Nobody expected that Louis Vuitton would make a trophy of an Esports tournament. It would be really nice if something that blows people's minds would happen.