Japan Mobile Gaming Statistics in 2023
- Last update: 28 May 2023 CET
When it comes to gaming, there is perhaps no country with a reputation as strong as Japan’s. Indeed, Nintendo and Sony alone are giants of the gaming industry. Furthermore, Japan was the birthplace of non-preset mobile games. As early as 1999, mobile phone users in Japan could download games – like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy – via the NTT DOCOMO platform. Today, Japan remains on the cutting-edge of the mobile gaming industry.
In this article, we will provide a number of detailed mobile games statistics and insights into the Japan Android game market with focus on mobile games only. We will cover a number of topics, including: how many Japanese game publishers exist on the Google Play Store, how many mobile games they have released, and how Japanese mobile games have performed compared to the global average. The data is aggregated based on address, such that only major game publishers and ones with valid Japanese addresses on the Android market have been considered. Furthermore, all download statistics are estimates.
There are more than 2,576 Japanese publishers on Google Play out of all 194,760 game publishers. One of the biggest Japanese publishers are KAYAC Inc., BabyBus, Geisha Tokyo Inc., Nintendo Co. Ltd., LINE Corporation, KONAMI, Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., GOODROIDInc., New Story Inc., 株式会社ドワンゴ . Overall 1% of all game publishers on Google Play are from Japan. Find the biggest app publishers with our App Market Explorer.
There are more than 14,653 games from Japanese publishers on Google Play out of the 541,402 games. Mobile Games with most downloads of Japanese publishers are Fate/Grand Order, タワーオブスカイ, LINE：マージジェリー, ONE PIECE バウンティラッシュ - アクションゲーム, プロジェクトセカイ カラフルステージ！ feat. 初音ミク, LINE：ディズニー ツムツム, プロ野球スピリッツA, にゃんこ大戦争, モンスターストライク, Escape Game: The Lake View . 3% of all mobile games on Google Play are from Japanese publishers. Filter for mobile games by publisher country with our tool here.
The average rating of 14,653 games from Japanese publishers on Google Play is 3.69 out of 5 stars. This is less than the overall average rating of all mobile games of 3.93 stars. Mobile Games from Japanese publishers on Google Play have on average 6,982 ratings. This number is higher than the average number of ratings of all games, which is 6,589 ratings. Sort by the best rated game or by the game with most ratings directly in our App Market Explorer.
Mobile Games by Japanese publishers have an average of 466.96k downloads. Overall they get more downloads than the average of all mobile games which is 562.09k. We offer also more detailed download estimates for any app.
9% of games by Japanese publishers are paid. That is a higher value of paid mobile games compared to the overall games, where 4% are paid. 72% of games by Japanese publishers include ads. That is a lower value compared to the whole world, where 72% games have ads. 25% of games by Japanese publishers make use of In-App Payments to monetize. That is higher than the average of 20% of games.
Japanese Paid Mobile Games9% Overall Paid Mobile Games4% 
Japanese Include Ads72% Overall Include Ads72% 
Japanese In-App Billing25% Overall In-App Billing20% 51% of games of Japanese publishers are available on both Google Play and iTunes. Overall they put more effort in publishing on both stores, compared to the average publisher with 17%. Use our iOS to Android Matching API or Android to iOS Matching API to find the same app across stores.
The following are the top publishers from Japan that accumulated most downloads.
KAYAC Inc. is on position 1 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. They own 363 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 562.8m+ times.
BabyBus is on position 2 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. BabyBus is a mobile gaming app developer based in China that focuses on meeting the educational needs of preschool children. Their apps are divided into two age groups, the Starter Series for toddlers and the Prodigy Series for children 3 year and older. Their goal is to make learning fun. BabyBus has published such games as Baby Panda World, Baby Panda's Care: Safety & Habits, Baby Panda's Town: Life, Baby Panda's Supermarket, and more. They own 185 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 528.14m+ times.
Geisha Tokyo, Inc. is on position 3 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. Geisha Tokyo, Inc is a Japanese mobile gaming app developer and publisher. Geisha Tokyo, Inc. has produced such mobile gaming apps as Dinosaur Rampage, Rope Bowling, Snowball.io, Traffic Run!, and more. They own 40 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 503.25m+ times.
Nintendo Co., Ltd. is on position 4 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. They were initially founded as a card company, and eventually evolved from toys to video games. Today, Nintendo is one of the world's largest video game companies and is responsible for some of the best-known and top-selling video game franchises of all-time. Nintendo Co., Ltd. has developed Nintendo Switch Online, Nintendo Switch Parental Cont…, Super Mario Run, Mario Kart Tour, and more. They own 10 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 394.54m+ times.
LINE Corporation is on position 5 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. LINE Corporation is an app developer and publisher, and provider of internet services, based in Tokyo, Japan. Launched in 2011, it is a subsidiary of the South Korean internet search giant, Naver Corporation. LINE Corporation has developed and published such apps as LINE Lite: Free Calls & Messages, LINE Camera - Photo editor, LINE: Disney Tsum Tsum, LINE PLAY - Our Avatar World, and more. They own 58 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 337.83m+ times.
KONAMI is on position 6 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. KONAMI is a Japanese entertainment and gambling conglomerate that operates as a product distributor, video game developer, and publishing company. While they own and operate casinos and health clubs across the world, they have found considerable success acting within the mobile gaming market. KONAMI has built a solid résumé of mobile gaming apps, including: Castlevania Grimoire of Souls, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, PIXEL PUZZLE COLLECTION, eFootball PES 2020, and more. They own 35 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 273.44m+ times.
Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. is on position 7 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. They own 50 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 268.84m+ times.
GOODROID,Inc. is on position 8 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. They own 123 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 229.35m+ times.
New Story Inc. is on position 9 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. They own 94 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 212.18m+ times.
株式会社ドワンゴ is on position 10 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. They own 27 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 132.02m+ times.
The following shows which SDKs are most used by Japan game publishers. To find out which mobile games integrate the following SDK use our App Market Explorer. We have also aggregated the worldwide Top Ad Network SDKs and other categories.
Google Firebase 68% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Firebase integrated. In total 8,991 games. Firebase is a mobile and web application development platform SDK that gives app builders the ability to develop their apps faster, without worrying about infrastructure. It includes functionalities like analytics, databases, messaging and crash reporting so developers can move quickly and focus on their users.
Google Ads AdMob 64% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Ads AdMob integrated. In total 8,370 games. Google Ads AdMob is a mobile advertising platform that enables users to monetize their mobile applications via in-app advertising. AdMob is based on the Google Mobile Ads SDK and serves over 200 billion ad requests a month, with over 1 million advertisers and 1 million apps currently running on the AdMob mobile ad network.
63% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Ads AdMob Mediation Adapters integrated. In total 8,231 games.
58% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have FMOD integrated. In total 7,697 games.
58% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Unity3D integrated. In total 7,686 games.
Unity Ads 32% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Unity Ads integrated. In total 4,220 games. The Unity Ads SDK helps publishers integrate especially video advertisements, aimed at maximizing revenue and improving user experience, into their games. Unity Ads gives developers the ability to offer users a variety of rewards in exchange for watching videos, such as additional “life,” currency, score increases, etc.
26% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Android Sqlite integrated. In total 3,467 games.
25% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Kotlin integrated. In total 3,316 games.
AppLovin MAX 23% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have AppLovin MAX integrated. In total 3,063 games. AppLovin's powerful analytics and marketing platform provides mobile game developers with the tools they need to monetize, publish, understand, and grow their businesses all in one SDK.
Google Mobile Ads Consent AdMob SDK 23% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Mobile Ads Consent AdMob SDK integrated. In total 2,998 games. Google Mobile Ads Consent AdMob SDK was designed to support publishers in meeting the requirements outlined in the EU ePrivacy Directive and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Google Mobile Ads Consent AdMob SDK provides utility functions for collecting consent from users to use their personal data, cookies, or other local storage, to serve ads.
The following shows which android permissions are most frequently request by Japan mobile games publishers. Use our App Market Explorer to filter the Google Play Store by mobile games with specific permissions.
android.permission.INTERNET makes it possible for app publishers to create network sockets and use custom network protocols within their apps. This permission is not required for internet connection however, as the mobile browser provides all apps with the ability to send data to the internet. 93% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Internet Access permission. Total 13,643 games.
The android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE permission can be leveraged by app developers to enable their apps to view information about network connections. This information includes such things as which networks exist and which already have connections. 87% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Network Information Access permission. Total 12,714 games.
android.permission.WAKE_LOCK gives apps the ability to prevent the phone they are running on from going into sleep mode. This is good for apps, like YouTube, that get extended periods of engagement that do not necessarily require the user to touch the screen or otherwise interact physically with the device. 60% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Phone Sleep Mode Preventation permission. Total 8,759 games.
Apps often advertise other apps. By leveraging com.google.android.finsky.permission.BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE apps can make sure that installs of other apps launched via their ads are properly attributed. 39% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Install Referrer permission. Total 5,732 games.
App publishers can leverage android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE to enable their app to view information about Wi-Fi networking. This includes whether Wi-Fi is enabled and the names of the connected Wi-Fi devices. 39% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Wifi Information Access permission. Total 5,670 games.
The com.android.vending.BILLING permission is required for the integration of billing in android applications. 38% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Billing permission. Total 5,537 games.
android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE makes it possible for app developers to enable their apps to modify or delete the contents of users’ SD cards. 36% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Write External Storage permission. Total 5,226 games.
android.permission.VIBRATE makes it possible for app builders to give their apps control over the vibrating function of the devices they are running on. 32% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Vibration permission. Total 4,686 games.
29% of the games from Japanese publishers use the com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID permission. Total 4,284 games.
android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED gives apps the ability to start themselves as soon as the system it is running on has finished booting. It should be noted, however, that this can often slow down the phone start time. In addition, it can slow down the device generally by enabling the app to run constantly. 28% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Start At Boot Time permission. Total 4,068 games.
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