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The size of the PC gaming industry in Japan has grown twice in the last 3 years

The size of the PC gaming industry in Japan has grown twice in the last 3 years
Written by adrina

Video games have proven to be popular entertainment media that emerged a few decades ago. Since then, games have improved in every imaginable way, with recent AAA games offering lifelike graphics and immersive gameplay. In addition, the popularity of gambling has grown to new horizons over the last few decades.

What used to be just tiny pixels on an arcade screen has now evolved into virtual words that we can all experience. PC gaming has arguably always been the most preferred way to play games due to the extensive flexibility and features that come with it.

The ability to update PCs and mod support in games are among the perks.

The PC gaming market has been growing rapidly around the world, and regions like Japan are also enjoying a faster upswing than ever before. The new report gives a great insight into the rapid expansion of PC gamers in Japan and how the gaming trend is slowly shifting to the PC platform.

main delivery:

  • The PC gaming market has grown rapidly in Japan over the past decade, with the number growing faster each new year.
  • The scope of the PC gaming sphere in Japan has doubled as more gamers start using computers as gaming platforms.
  • Storefronts like Steam have vastly improved their support for the Japanese region, offering many Japanese-made games and features that were previously absent.
  • The increasing acceptance of indie and international titles has also seen more and more Japanese gamers embrace PC gaming.

A report from Japan’s KADOKAWA ASCII Research Laboratories, originally covered by KantanGames, suggests that the PC gaming market in Japan has been growing rapidly, reaching new horizons faster than at any time in history. According to KantanGames, the Japanese PC gaming industry has doubled in size in the last 3 years.

The KADOKAWA ASCII report mentions that there were 16 million PC gamers in Japan last year, with 4 to 5 million gamers playing exclusively. However, it’s a small chunk when compared to the 55.4 million total players. The population of Japan was around 125.7 million last year.

The growth is fantastic as the same company reported just 11 million PC gamers in 2015, with 2.2 million of them exclusively for PC gaming. In other words, the total will increase by a whopping 45% by 2021; actual growth is 22% considering the total number of players at the time (45 million).

According to the report, the entire gaming industry in Japan was worth about 2 trillion yen in 2021, with all console, handheld, smartphone and PC games combined. The number currently stands at just $13.642 billion. It’s worth reflecting on the yen’s depreciation over the past year.

The KADOKAWA ASCII report also cites that the Japanese PC gaming market alone grossed a whopping 131.3 billion yen ($896 million) in 2021. The popularity of Japan’s PC gaming dates back to the 1980s, but the resurgence of consoles and smartphones continued in 2021 through subsequent decades halting the growth of PC gamers.

The recent boom in the PC gaming market in Japan began in 2018 as titles like PUBG and Fortnite received critical acclaim in the region. And since then, the numbers have grown faster than ever in history.

Over the past decade, Japan’s PC gamers have grown due to a variety of factors, including new Japanese games, increased support, and more opportunities on the Steam storefront. In addition, Japanese gamers also accept indie and internationally distributed titles, bringing them closer to western audiences.

All in all, these factors combined have played a significant role in the growth of the Japanese PC gaming industry. We can expect Japan’s PC gaming to grow even stronger and faster in the near future.

What are your thoughts on the growth of the Japanese PC gaming market, which has doubled in the last 3 years? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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