Japanese game industry data provider KADOKAWA ASCII Research Laboratories just published the top 10 grossing mobile games for Japan in CY2022. Here is the overview (gross sales, Japan domestic only, iOS and Android combined) – based on the company’s estimates*: 1) Monster Strike...
Japan And That One Western Game That Actually Made It Here
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...
Which Major Game Companies In Japan Are Active In Web3 Gaming? Almost All Of Them
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...
Memento Mori: Japan’s Last Mobile Game Hit Made US$34 Million In 24 Days
It has been a very rare occurrence for a new mobile game in Japan to break into the top 10 grossing rankings (and to stay there, at least for a while) for a very, very long time now. I would say Japan’s last real “mega blockbuster” was Fate Grand Order by Aniplex, an RPG that...
Japan’s Blockchain Gaming Industry: A Primer
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...
GLOBAL GAME BUSINESS TRENDS IN 2021 (PREDICTION)
Game industry news site GamesIndustry.biz asked analysts (including myself) for predictions how we think about the gaming business in 2021. Here is a repost from my contribution to their article: Switch Pro launches Yes, I know, I know. I predict a beefed-up 4K device is coming...