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...
JAPAN’S TOP 10 MOBILE GAMES IN 2019 (BY REVENUE)
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)...
Japan’s Top 10 Mobile Games In 2018 (By Revenue)
Japanese data provider Gzbrain released an overview of Japan’s top 10 mobile games in terms of revenue for 2018 a few days ago. The list is based on the estimated gross revenue on iOS and Android combined (and in Japan only):1) Monster Strike from Mixi (2121): US$842 million2) Fate/Grand...
Esports In Japan: Small Market, A Lot Of Challenges And No Nintendo
A lot has been written about esports in Japan in recent months, mostly on why competitive gaming isn’t taking off over here, the third biggest market for games in the world. It makes sense, as esports seems to be everywhere nowadays, enjoying coverage by mass media, attention by large brands...
Facebook’s Instant Games Platform Is Surprisingly Japan-Heavy
Facebook has launched Instant Games yesterday, a new HTML5 cross-platform that could lead to a new era in gaming. In a nutshell, Facebook allows developers to deploy games that run completely within the Facebook and Messenger clients (both on mobile and desktop). One tap of the user is enough, and...
The Major Trend In Japan’s Mobile Game Industry Now? Consolidation.
Shortly after DeNA (2432) and GREE (3632) pioneered the concept of mobile gaming as the world knows it today (free-to-play business model, bite-sized content embedded in social networks to increase stickiness, data analysis to improve monetization, etc.) in 2006/2007 on feature phones, a flood of...