[somenameforme]

Going back to the games I mentioned in the other conversation we were having, Mount and Blade is Turkish. Siralim is made by a guy living in Cortland, Ohio - population 8000. Japanese stuff is obviously in Japan, which has economically become much closer to a developing country following 3 decades of stagflation. Nominal GDP/capita is $33k. Average household income after taxes is $29k. [1] It's why I kind of snicker when people reference Japan as having 'achieved affordable housing.' They sure have, so long as you aren't working for Japanese wages!

I don't know how to get meaningful stats on game development locations (because you need to exclude shovelware), but I know that in my library of games - American companies are few and far between except for big AAA titles, though even there things are getting a lot more diverse. For instance Kerbal Space Program is Mexican, Starpoint Gemini is Croatian, Space Rangers is Russian, Conquest of Elysium/Dominions is Swedish, Endless Legend is French, Lost Castle is Chinese, Crusader Kings is Swedish, Battle Brothers is German, and so on endlessly.

And in my experience lifestyles only improve abroad. All the niceties you're used to still exist in pretty much every semi-major hub around the world, and then much more on top. As do large communities of other expats. If somebody just wanted to be in a mini America, or even Silicon Valley, each and every day - they absolutely could. Think about how in the US basically every major city has a little 'China town.' It's the exact same thing abroad with Westerners, often with a tech bias.

[1] - https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/japan/