PC Game Market in Japan Doubled in 3 Years

Many gamers see Japan as a bastion of console gaming, but the new report by analyst group Kadokawa ASCII Research Laboratories shows how misleading this perception is. Not only has this market long been dominated by mobile productions (revenues from this segment are three times higher than from console games), but recent years have also seen impressive growth in PC games.

PCs getting stronger and stronger in Japan

The report contains some interesting data, showing the rapid growth of the PC market in the Land of the Rising Sun.

1. Since 2018, PC gaming revenue in Japan has doubled.
2. Last year in Japan, PC games generated a revenue of $896 million. The entire market was worth 13.7 billion, but it should be noted that this amount includes not only the results of console and mobile games, but also sales of the consoles themselves and their accessories.
3. In Japan, 16 million people play on PC, while the total gaming population is 55.4 million.
4. Of those 16 million, 4.5 million play exclusively on PC. Remarkably, this is more than double the 2015 figure. So all this shows the rapid growth of PC popularity among Japanese gamers.
5. Japan is already among the top ten countries with the largest number of active users on Steam, and is also one of the fastest growing markets in the category.
6. At the recent TGS (Tokyo Game Show ), of the 60 games shown by Japan's biggest developers, 40 were heading to or were already available on Steam. This compares with only 38 titles for the PlayStation 5.

The rise of the PC was well demonstrated at this year's Tokyo Game Show. Source photo TGS.

Reasons for PC's rise in popularity among Japanese gamers

According to Kadokawa ASCII Research Laboratories, there are several reasons for the rapid growth of PCs as a gaming platform in Japan.

1. Growing support for PCs by Japanese developers. Today, releasing games on Steam is a standard for many local developers, whereas just a few years ago it was rare. This applies not only to console developers. Increasingly, the biggest mobile hits from the Land of the Rising Sun, such as Uma Musume, Memento Mori or Heaven Burns Red, are coming to PC, often simultaneously with the release on smartphones.
2. There are also hits created by Japanese developers mainly with PC in mind, such as Final Fantasy XIV or Kantai Collection. They are not common, but the very fact that they exist at all shows how much the PC market has changed in this country.
3. Increasing Japanese interest in foreign games, including indie games. As an example, the high popularity of the PC edition of PUBG, which was one of the main reasons for the growth of the PC market in Japan in 2017-2018. In the case of this game, it was strongly helped by its transfer from the dedicated local DMM service to Steam.
4. Many of the multiplatform games in Japan can be bought cheaper on Steam and Epic Games Store than on consoles..
5. Improvements to Steam's interface and service quality in Japan. Until a few years ago, the service left much to be desired in this regard - you couldn't even see prices in yen. Now the situation has improved considerably, and Steam charge cards can be found in most game and electronics stores.
6. Continued problems with the availability of the PlayStation 5 caused some discerning gamers to buy PCs to play the most graphically advanced games.
7. Japan also has a large group of blockchain technology enthusiasts, and games using it are currently available exclusively on PC.
8. Pandemic has generally boosted interest in gaming in Japan, and PCs have also benefited..

All this leads analysts to expect continued rapid growth of the PC game market in Japan. Especially since supporting PC is simply paying off for developers - in the case of Capcom already half of the copies of games sold are for PC releases.