By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry
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...
While some of the big European and American game companies have expressed skepticism about Web3 gaming, scaled down ambitions or adopted a wait-and-see approach, things are very much different in Japan. (In that context, Japan is actually similar to South Korea (or Asia in general), but I will...
Even before establishing my consultancy Kantan Games, I have been active in the Japanese game industry since around 2008 – and a lot has happened since that time. Now, here is what I believe is one of the first comprehensive overviews in English on Japan’s blockchain gaming industry...
Game data provider KADOKAWA Game Linkage just published the top 10 grossing mobile games for Japan during CY2019. Here is the overview (gross sales, Japan domestic only, iOS and Android combined) – based on the company’s estimates: 1) Fate/Grand Order from Sony (6758)...
Personal Background: I am a German national and have been based in Tokyo, Japan since 2004 – when I started my PhD studies at Keio University (as a research student). After graduating and working independently for years, I established Kantan Games Inc. in Tokyo in 2013, an independent game...
At a press conference in Tokyo today, Sony (6758) detailed its next attempt to move into the mobile gaming business. The big idea this time is to turn existing PlayStation IP into smartphone games, via a wholly owned subsidiary called Forwardworks. In my view, the 10 titles shown today can be...
By Dr. Serkan Toto – On Japan's Game Industry