Same-region player matching will soon be available!
Players will be able to match with others on the same data center. This also includes the Party Finder! 🎉
A brand-new job action system is coming to FFXIV!
✨ Reborn Mode
✨ Evolved Mode
We'll be sharing more details in the development panel later today at 2:45 p.m. (PDT) / 21:45 (GMT), so be sure to tune in!
Where there is light, there is shadow.
Shadowbringers will officially be added to the FFXIV Free Trial on Tuesday, April 28!
Play up to and including Patch 5.5 for free!
When we look at people around the world who dream of building a manga industry, their goal is often Weekly Shōnen Jump.
As someone who is part of Shōnen Jump, I am very grateful for that.
However, if your goal is Shōnen Jump itself, you cannot build a strong and vibrant manga industry.
That is because Shōnen Jump is not the cause of a manga industry—it is the result of one.
The true strength of manga does not lie in a few massive hit titles, but in its diversity and richness.
Only by understanding this can a country build a manga industry and a true ecosystem—and use it to powerfully develop its cultural sector.
The comics industry, including manga, can produce about 2,000 serialized titles per $100 million in advanced markets.
In developing countries, it can produce up to 5,000 serialized titles per $100 million.
If a market reaches $1 billion, it can generate around 50,000 new IPs every year—an astonishing number.
But for this to be truly meaningful, MANGA(漫画) must be diverse.
If all the works being produced resemble those from Shōnen Jump—in art style, characters, themes, storytelling, or ideas—then what is the value of producing 10,000 or even 50,000 such works every year?
That would be nothing less than a disaster.
Well, Films can afford to be somewhat similar to each other.
This is because fewer films are produced, their budgets are high, and the risks are significant.
In fact, films tend to be more similar to each other than manga.
Unlike manga, films do not have characters ranging from two-head-tall figures to fifteen-head-tall figures, right?
From a mangaka’s perspective, films often appear quite similar—the outlines of subjects are alike, and the frames are standardized, such as 16:9 or 2.35:1.
When I talk about the manga industry with others, there is one manga I always show and mention.
It is a manga work I deeply love—a manga about raising cows.
The mangaka is someone who actually raises and loves cows.
More than any manga I have drawn, this work is a living example of the true power and potential of manga.
Manga allows for endless possibilities:
a story about cows, created by someone who raises them; a simple yet refined rural food story, told by someone who has lived in the countryside; the story of a poor robot living alone in human society; narratives about great philosophers, religious figures, or social activists; and even works drawn from personal experiences with illness, such as kidney stones.
That is why mangakas serve as IP creators.
A rural food manga was later adapted into a remarkably well-crafted and emotionally rich film.
Such a challenge is only possible because there exists a powerful original manga that resonates with many people.
And it is precisely this diversity—in style, subject matter, thought, and life experience—
along with the countless acts of pure human creativity,
that ultimately give rise to Shōnen Jump and its hit titles.
Shōnen Jump is the result.
If you truly want manga to exist in your country, don’t aim for Shōnen Jump—aim for diversity in manga.
It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we share that Camelworks (Mackenzie Rowles) has passed away.
With his family and many, many friends we gathered for a celebration of his life focusing on all he had achieved and how much love he gave so freely to all who knew him. It was a beautiful final send-off for an amazing guy who touched the lives of so many people, not only those he loved, helped and laughed with personally, but the millions of viewers he reached online through hundreds of videos he obsessively worked on throughout his years. Mackenzie’s ashes were scattered in his favourite spot in a beautiful national park he loved to visit.
His family and closest friends ask that you share your favourite memories of him and to remember him for his endless passion, love of diving into the details, and the joy he brought to all. Please respect their wishes for privacy during this difficult time.
We first met Mackenzie in 2015, when we were burgeoning young YouTube channels trying to make a living from gaming content in a world where almost no one believed it was possible. We’d meet up at local cafes to swap tactics, give each other pep talks about how we are going to make it big, and coordinate how we’d do the many “shout outs” so common for that era. Somehow it all worked out as planned, and the next thing we knew we were wrapped up together in all kinds of unique experiences we’ll cherish forever. From picking locks and doing archery at the Elder Scrolls Escape in Kangaroo Valley, to exploring the streets of LA at E3, or partying in a nuclear bunker in West Virginia – there are just so many good memories that wouldn’t have been the same without Mackenzie. The kinds of puns and jokes you’ve heard him use throughout his videos are a reflection of the same humour he’d effortlessly use in person to keep all his friends laughing.
Camel was always there to talk or lend a helping hand to anyone who asked. He’d feature in our skits, spend hours dissecting the TES iceberg with us, and even made some fantastic thumbnails for our channel before we knew what we were doing. We will always appreciate the help and enthusiasm he shared with us in those formative years.
We were blessed to see Camelworks become one of the core pillars of the TES/BGS community and we want you to know just how hard he worked for his audience, and how much he cherished your support. He was incredibly grateful for everyone who enjoyed the content he spent so much time creating and truly was the man of meticulous masterpieces, leaving no stone unturned in his deep dives (and quite literally with his love of collecting rocks, among many other esoteric oddities).
Camel, rest in peace brother. May you live on in us all when we wander off the beaten path, searching every nook and cranny just to see what’s there.
- Michael & Scott (FudgeMuppet)