AbiStudio.com Inc. is a Japanese company with the slogan "Enjoy it, good for all three parties" (enjoy it, win-win for all three parties), and it develops and operates the free training game CAMERA FIT. The company believes that only when the people who play are happy, the number of people who become healthier benefits society, and the company itself can continue to operate sustainably, can it be considered "good work."
Purpose CAMERA FIT is a training game of "take a look, move around, and get stronger." By training in front of a smartphone camera, your in-game self (the player) grows, and you can challenge matches. The training menu is not limited to strength training; it also broadly covers walking, running, yoga, Pilates, dance, shadowboxing, and more, and the coach recommends a suitable menu based on your condition that day. No installation is required, it is free, and you can start playing directly from a browser. Android users can also use the app version via Google Play; the iPhone version is in preparation.
Core strengths The company points out that about 1.8 billion people worldwide lack exercise habits. The number of deaths from lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes and heart disease (non-communicable diseases) reaches about 43 million people globally each year, and lack of exercise is considered one of the main risk factors. The effects of exercise are not limited to disease prevention; many studies show that moving the body can relieve low mood and anxiety, and people who continue muscle training have a lower risk of falling or becoming bedridden in the future, which is a very important issue for Japan as its population ages.
Design philosophy
- Eliminate "the hassle before starting": preparing equipment, making space, changing clothes... this "one step before starting" is actually the biggest obstacle. Mobile games, by contrast, start training the moment you open them, and this ease becomes the motivation to keep going.
- Maintain "just the right difficulty": too hard and you give up, too easy and you get bored. The game is full of mechanisms that grasp the player's condition, and can recommend suitable items for the moment from a rich training menu, maintaining a difficulty that is not excessive, like having a personal trainer.
- Face up to "the hardship of exercise itself": for people who are not good at exercise, exercise really is hard. Therefore, the company broadened the training menu so that daily walking or cycling can also be directly reflected in the game as exercise, and introduced menus such as dance and yoga that make moving the body itself fun.
Use cases Even without the time and money to go to a gym, anyone can participate as long as they have a smartphone. The company believes this format helps reduce cases of "wanting to keep going but being unable to." The logic is: because it is fun, you can keep going; because you keep going, both body and mind become healthier; as more people exercise, the number of people suffering from illness and the burden of medical costs decrease; and many people playing over the long term directly becomes the company's strength.
Company and deBackground Our representative is from Ino Town, Kochi Prefecture. He joined the game company Sega, but left when he was unable to secure the game development opportunity he had hoped for. After that, he worked as a web designer at a Daiei group company, and in 2004 founded AbiStudio.com Co., Ltd. with media operations and e-commerce consulting as its business. He is the author of "Landing Page no Kyokasho" and other works.
The catalyst for developing "CAMERA FIT": Our representative became absorbed in a certain training game and played it up to the highest difficulty, but afterward lost the goal to continue. Other training games also become formulaic after one playthrough, and doing strength training while watching videos turns into a chore, making it impossible to keep going, so "then I'll just make something I can keep playing forever" became the starting point for development. The desire to "make games" that he had held since his Sega days was shelved for over 20 years while he prioritized running the business, and it finally took shape with the arrival of an era in which AI can write code. Development is carried out by our representative and a staff member who uses AI for asset production, effectively a two-person system.
Other Information The company welcomes inquiries about coverage and interviews. We can discuss interviews, publication, and appearances regarding "CAMERA FIT" and our training game initiatives, and can also provide materials such as screenshots and the logo, as well as interviews with our representative Abiru. Topics we can discuss include, for example: why training games "don't stick," and the game design created to make them stick; game development carried out by an effectively two-person system with the help of AI; and the story of a wish to make games that could not be fulfilled at Sega, realized 20 years later with the help of AI. Contact: [email protected] (Person in charge: Abiru). Representative's social account: X @Abiru.
