Sensor Tower: The Japanese Mobile Market in 2023
Preliminary numbers are showing that the Japanese market is ready to return to the growing trend.
Market
During the first half of 2023, Japanese users spent over $6.8 billion on games, slightly more than during the same period the previous year.
It is predicted that the total revenue for 2023 will reach $14 billion. The record was set in 2021 at $17.8 billion.
Revenue
From January to August of this year, the Japanese mobile gaming market's revenue has already exceeded $9 billion, making it the third-largest market in the world, accounting for 18% of the total revenue.
The Revenue per Download (RPD) for the Japanese mobile market is $21, the highest on the planet, four times higher than in the United States.
Downloads
In 2020, the number of downloads in Japan reached a historical high of around 800 million. After that, they declined for two years. From January to August 2023, a growing trend in downloads can be observed again, with the number of downloads surpassing 420 million. By the end of the year, it is expected to reach 620 million game installations.
Genres and Games
RPGs make up 48% of the revenue structure. From January to August, games of this genre earned $4.3 billion in Japan.
Mobile strategies are the second-highest revenue genre in Japan, earning over $1 billion from January to August.
Foreign developers actively compete in the Japanese market. In the top 10 games this year, 5 out of 10 were released by non-Japanese companies. Korean and Chinese companies are vying for market share.
Expansion into Foreign Markets
Dragon Ball Legends and Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle are the two most successful games from Japanese developers in Western markets. Together, they earned more than $250 million abroad from January to August this year.
The company KAYAC deserves attention, as its hyper-casual games have become noticeable beyond Japan.