Foreign-made video games have always had a very hard time in Japan.
For example, a Famitsu statistic summarizing the top 100 best-selling games in Japan between January 2001 and September 2013 (accumulated across these almost 13 years) does not include even a single foreign-made title.
Almost 10 years have passed since the release of that data set, and the sales performance of non-Japanese video games has surely gone up generally – it’s still tough for American or European publishers, however.
It’s not that Western mega hits like Call Of Duty, GTA or FIFA do not sell at all in Japan: They are “respected” as high-quality games among players, but the scale is different when compared to the West or other parts of Asia.
The Minecraft Phenomenon In Japan
There is one exception nobody really talks about though, namely the phenomenal success of Minecraft in Japan.
It is by far the best selling Western game IP in the country on all major platforms.
(The Japanese PC game market is still small, so I will focus on consoles and mobile platforms below.)
Developer Mojang Studios released Minecraft’s first full version in November 2011, it became a global hit, and a small fan community started to form in Japan in the early years, too.
Minecraft Boasts Blockbuster Numbers In Japan
In Japan, the game really took off when it was released on the PlayStation Vita handheld (yes, really): Sony was the publisher of that version, which went on sale digital in October 2014 and physical in March 2015.
In February 2015 already, Sony said Minecraft sold a total of whopping 500,000 times in Japan across PlayStation 3, 4 and Vita.
From 2015, Minecraft appeared in every single top 100 best-selling video game ranking in Famitsu, making it the only Western-made staple of the industry in Japan:
- 2015: 11. best-selling game of the calendar year (PS Vita, 478.478 units sold)
- 2016: 10. (PS Vita, 397.607 units) and 24. (Wii U, 241.441 units) and 50. (PS4, 149.510 units)
- 2017: 32. (PS Vita, 171.796 units) and 46. (PS4, 134.269 units) and 51. (Wii U, 128.316 units)
- 2018: 9. (Nintendo Switch, 525.045 units) and 66. (PS4, 77.560 units) and 93. (PS Vita, 47.799 units)
- 2019: 7. (NSW, 620.894 units) and 71. (PS4, 59.435 units)
- 2020: 8. (NSW, 556.982 units) and 57. (NSW, Dungeons Hero Edition 76.784 units) and 87. (PS4, Starter Collection 43.935 units)
- 2021: 7. (NSW, 708.670 units) and 62. (NSW, Dungeons Hero Edition 73.996 units) and 89. (NSW, Dungeons Ultimate Edition 37.425 units) and 96. (PS4, Starter Collection 34.389 units)
- 2022: 7. (NSW, 548.415 units) and 60. (NSW, Dungeons Ultimate Edition 59.800 units)
Note that digital downloads are NOT included in Famitsu rankings, so total sales are even higher.
On mobile, Minecraft has consistently been the No. 1 paid app in the Japan rankings for iOS and Google Play for years and years now.
Apart from being the best-selling Western-made video game, Minecraft is of course owner Microsoft’s biggest hit product in gaming in Japan, too.
Why Minecraft Has Been “Adopted” By Japanese Gamers
Today, Minecraft boasts an IP power in Japan that goes beyond the game: toy stores are full of Minecraft merchandise, there is an original manga series sold by a top publisher, it is a long-running hot topic on social media (including countless Twitter accounts posting unique content), book stores offer a whole slew of guide books, etc.
It’s not on Pokemon level of course, but I believe there are several reasons for Minecraft’s success in this country:
- At its core, Minecraft is just a very well-made game, plain and simple
- It was offering an innovative and unique experience upon launch, and even today, sandbox games made by Japanese developers are still rare (as the best effort, Square Enix followed up with Dragon Quest Builders later)
- In the early days, publisher Sony supported the game aggressively on the Japanese market
- Today, Microsoft itself is publishing the game in Japan (whereas even Western mega hit franchises are being handled by local companies in some cases, i.e. Square Enix’ history of publishing Call Of Duty in Japan), and the local team seems to understand very well what golden goose they actually have in their hands here
- In a country where games can cost more than 8,000 yen (depending on the platform), Minecraft retailing at less than half of that price certainly helps sales
But the most critical reason for Minecraft performing so well in Japan is that its world view, design, gameplay and characters are “neutral”, “all-inclusive” and “universal”.
Intentional by Mojang or not, but I believe Minecraft works everywhere because of the blocky visuals, the absence of a story and a character design that can be called generic and super simple – but that at the same time has the advantage that it speaks to a Japanese audience as well as to an American audience, for instance.
