Newzoo & UKIE: Japanese Gaming Market in 2025
Market is declining in $ value, while growing in local currency. Nintendo Switch had a dominant position at the end of 2024, and no signs that this will change.
Market Overview
Japan is the #3 gaming market worldwide by revenue. It accounts for 9.1% of all spending, but only 2.2% of the global gaming audience.
By platforms, Japan is the #2 console market in the world (8% of global revenue, 6.2% of audience), the #3 mobile market (11.5% of revenue, 2% of audience), and the #4 PC market (4.1% of revenue, 2.9% of audience).
The average Japanese mobile gamer spends 3 times more on mobile games than UK people do. On console, the pattern is reversed: despite the popularity of consoles in Japan, the average British user spends more on console games. All of this reflects the results at the end of 2024.
In 2024, the Japanese gaming market reached ¥2.483 trillion, up 4.3% from 2023.
The mobile segment grew 5.2% YoY to ¥1.742 trillion. The PC market grew 16.2% to ¥240 billion. The console market declined 3.1% YoY to ¥525 billion, linked to weaker premium game sales and the end of the Nintendo Switch lifecycle.
Macroeconomic factors played a role. Due to the weakening yen, in dollar terms, the Japanese market dropped 3.3% to $16.6 billion. Mobile fell 2.4% to $11.5 billion. Console declined 10.1% to $3.5 billion. PC market grew 7.8% YoY to $1.6 billion.
Japan’s PC segment has been growing strong since 2019, accelerated by the pandemic years. However, Newzoo expects growth to slow from 2024–2027.
By the end of 2024, 35 million Nintendo Switch consoles had been sold in Japan (70% market share). PlayStation held 14.4 million units (29%). Xbox: 0.76 million, 1% market share.
Players in Japan
60% of Japanese gamers played on PC and console in the past 6 months, less than the U.S. (66%) and Europe (71%).
YouTube (67%), LINE (62%), and X (59%) are the top social platforms among Japanese PC/console gamers.
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60% of Japanese PC/console gamers are male. Their average age is 34.7, higher than America (30.9) and Europe (33.1).
Japanese PC/console gamers value story and narrative more than gamers in the U.S. or Europe. Open worlds are less appealing to Japanese players than Western audiences.
As a result, Japanese PC/console gamers play single-player games more often than U.S. or European gamers.
Games in Japan
RPGs, Battle Royales, and shooters are the most popular console genres in Japan. Despite a preference for single-player, competitive multiplayer games are also popular.
Compared to UK gamers, the Japanese play fewer sports and sandbox games.
On PC, shooters, adventure, and RPGs lead among Japanese players. Japanese gamers play some shooters genres on PC (Battle Arena / Battle Royale) several times more than British gamers do.
On mobile, the top genres are simulation, RPG, and adventure. There's some ambiguity around what's included in the simulation segment.
Across all platforms, fantasy and science fiction are the most loved settings for Japanese gamers.
Super Mario, Pokemon, and Splatoon are the top three console franchises for Japanese players. Among Western IPs, only Minecraft, Fortnite, and Apex Legends made it to the list.
On PC, more Western franchises are among the most popular.
Among paid console releases in the last 3 years, 8 out of the top projects by player numbers in Japan were made by local developers, led by narrative-driven single-player titles. On PC, more of the top are co-op games with only one domestic leader (Elden Ring).
Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Rainbow Six: Siege are the leading F2P console titles by user count. On PC, the leaders are Counter-Strike 2, DOTA 2, and PUBG.
