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Japan Mobile Gaming Statistics in 2021

Japan Mobile Gaming Statistics in 2021

Last update: 19 Jan 2021 CET
Japan Mobile Gaming Statistics in 2021 for Android

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.

Table of Content

Data Source 42matters

42matters tracks everything from mobile game meta data, to rankings, to download estimates, to changes in meta information, to SDK usage, to App-ads.txt and more. If you would like to leverage our data into your own product, research or app industry analysis, it can be obtained via our API or File Dumps or our interactive App Market Explorer.

How Many Mobile Game Publishers Are from Japan?

There are more than 2,522 Japanese publishers on Google Play out of all 172,285 game publishers. One of the biggest Japanese publishers are LINE Corporation, Nintendo Co. Ltd., Geisha Tokyo Inc., BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., KONAMI, KAYAC Inc., BabyBus, SNK CORPORATION, SQUARE ENIX Co.Ltd., Office Create Corp. . Overall 1% of all game publishers on Google Play are from Japan. Find the biggest app publishers with our App Market Explorer.

Percentage
Globally
Japanese
Publishers
vs
Total
Publishers

How Many Mobile Games Are from Japanese Publishers?

There are more than 13,029 games from Japanese publishers on Google Play out of the 437,863 games. Mobile Games with most downloads of Japanese publishers are 意味がわかると怖い童話, Save them all - drawing puzzle, 雀魂‐じゃんたま‐, 放置少女 〜百花繚乱の萌姫たち, LINE：ディズニー ツムツム, サモンズボード, Skip school !　-escape game, 五等分の花嫁 五つ子ちゃんはパズルを五等分できない。【ごとぱず】, 白猫プロジェクト, にゃんこ大戦争 . 3% of all mobile games on Google Play are from Japanese publishers. Filter for mobile games by publisher country with our tool here.

Percentage
Globally
Japanese Mobile Games
vs
Total Mobile Games

How Are Mobile Games from Japanese Publishers Rated?

The average rating of 13,029 games from Japanese publishers on Google Play is 3.58 out of 5 stars. This is less than the overall average rating of all mobile games of 3.75 stars. Mobile Games from Japanese publishers on Google Play have on average 6,302 ratings. This number is higher than the average number of ratings of all games, which is 6,411 ratings. Sort by the best rated game or by the game with most ratings directly in our App Market Explorer.

Average rating of
Japanese Mobile Games
3.58 stars
Average #Ratings of
Japanese Mobile Games
Average rating of
All Mobile Games
3.75 stars
Average #Ratings of
All Mobile Games

How Many Downloads Do Mobile Game from Japanese Publishers Get?

Mobile Games by Japanese publishers have an average of 304.82k downloads. Overall they get more downloads than the average of all mobile games which is 443.31k. We offer also more detailed download estimates for any app.

Download Statistics
Average Downloads Per Japanese Mobile Game
Average Downloads Per Mobile Game

How Do Japanese Mobile Games Monetize?

6% of games by Japanese publishers are paid. That is a higher value of paid mobile games compared to the overall games, where 5% are paid. 74% of games by Japanese publishers include ads. That is a higher value compared to the whole world, where 73% games have ads. 24% of games by Japanese publishers make use of In-App Payments to monetize. That is higher than the average of 21% of games.

Paid Mobile Games Japanese Paid Mobile Games6% Overall Paid Mobile Games5%
Ads Japanese Include Ads74% Overall Include Ads73%
In-App Billing Japanese In-App Billing24% Overall In-App Billing21%

Do Japanese Mobile Games Publishers Release on both iOS and Android?

56% 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 18%. Use our iOS to Android Matching API or Android to iOS Matching API to find the same app across stores.

Japanese Mobile Games
Available on Both Stores
Overall Mobile Games
Available on Both Stores

Who Are the Top 15 Japanese Mobile Game Publishers Based on Downloads?

The following are the top publishers from Japan that accumulated most downloads.

1 LINE Corporation

LINE Corporation is on position 1 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 57 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 327.23m+ times.

327.23m+
57
2 Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. is on position 2 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 310.15m+ times.

310.15m+
10
3 Geisha Tokyo, Inc.

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 31 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 238.61m+ times.

238.61m+
31
4 BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. is on position 4 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. is a Japanese multinational video game developer headquartered in Tokyo. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. has a sizable mobile gaming app portfolio, including: DIGIMON ReArise, DRAGON BALL LEGENDS, GUNDAM BATTLE: GUNPLA WARFARE, アイドルマスター シンデレラガールズ スターライトスポット, and more. They own 63 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 205.1m+ times.

205.1m+
63
5 KONAMI

KONAMI is on position 5 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 31 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 178.5m+ times.

178.5m+
31
6 KAYAC Inc.

KAYAC Inc. is on position 6 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. They own 14 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 106.85m+ times.

106.85m+
14
7 BabyBus

BabyBus is on position 7 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 140 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 71.3m+ times.

71.3m+
140
8 SNK CORPORATION

SNK CORPORATION is on position 8 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. SNK Corporation is a Japanese-Chinese video game hardware and software company. It was initially founded in 1978, under the name Shin Nihon Kikaku. The name was informally shortened to SNK Corporation in 1981 before becoming the company's official name in 1986. SNK CORPORATION has developed mobile gaming apps like THE KING OF FIGHTERS '98, THE KING OF FIGHTERS '97, METAL SLUG 3, THE KING OF FIGHTERS-A 2012, and more. They own 18 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 65.26m+ times.

65.26m+
18
9 SQUARE ENIX Co.,Ltd.

SQUARE ENIX Co.,Ltd. is on position 9 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer, publisher, and distribution company. They are known for the Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts role-playing video game franchises. Square Enix is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. SQUARE ENIX Co.,Ltd. can be credited with many mobile gaming apps, including FINAL FANTASY TACTICS : WotL, DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY OPERA OMNIA, DRAGON QUEST, FINAL FANTASY VII, and more. They own 108 mobile games that have been downloaded together more than 63.06m+ times.

63.06m+
108
10 Office Create Corp.

Office Create Corp. is on position 10 of the biggest Japanese game publishers. They own a single game that has been downloaded more than 57.8m+ times.

57.8m+
1

What Are the Most Used SDKs by Japanese Mobile Game Publishers?

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.

1 Google Ads AdMob

71% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Ads AdMob integrated. In total 8,070 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.

71
8070
2 Google Firebase

59% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Firebase integrated. In total 6,642 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.

59
6642
3 FMOD

50% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have FMOD integrated. In total 5,602 games.

50
5602
4 Unity3D

50% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Unity3D integrated. In total 5,598 games.

50
5598
5 Google Play In-app billing

37% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Play In-app billing integrated. In total 4,219 games. Google Play In-App Billing is an SDK that lets developers sell digital content on Android applications. It can be used to sell one-time products, rewarded products, subscriptions, and more.

37
4219
6 Android Support Library V4

35% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Android Support Library V4 integrated. In total 3,935 games. Android Support Library V4, developed by Google’s Android team, is a platform that helps app developers manage the release of new API versions. Rather than developing code to handle the provisioning of new features on earlier releases, developers can leverage Android Support Library V4 to provide that compatibility layer.

35
3935
7 Unity Ads

30% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Unity Ads integrated. In total 3,409 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.

30
3409
8 Google Play Game Services

29% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Play Game Services integrated. In total 3,261 games. Google Play Game Services is an SDK that provides cross-platform services that gives app developers the ability to easily integrate popular gaming features such as achievements, leaderboards, Saved Games, and real-time multiplayer on their tablet and mobile games.

29
3261
9 Google Drive SDK

28% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Drive SDK integrated. In total 3,174 games. The Google Drive SDK makes it possible for app developers to create mobile, web, and desktop apps that leverage Google Drive cloud storage. This includes reading, writing, and syncing files in Google Drive.

28
3174
10 Google Cloud Messaging

24% of mobile games from Japanese publishers have Google Cloud Messaging integrated. In total 2,732 games.

24
2732

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What Are the Most Used Android Mobile Games Permissions by Japanese Publishers?

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.

1 Internet Access

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. 94% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Internet Access permission. Total 12,264 games.

94
12264
2 Network Information Access

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 11,355 games.

87
11355
3 Phone Sleep Mode Preventation

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. 54% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Phone Sleep Mode Preventation permission. Total 7,015 games.

54
7015
4 Write External Storage

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. 46% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Write External Storage permission. Total 5,972 games.

46
5972
5 Billing

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 4,972 games.

38
4972
6 Wifi Information Access

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. 36% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Wifi Information Access permission. Total 4,722 games.

36
4722
7 Push Notification

com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE can be used within apps to allow them to accept cloud to device messages sent by the app’s service. It should be noted however, that using this service will incur data usage, and malicious apps could cause excess data usage. 35% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Push Notification permission. Total 4,537 games.

35
4537
8 Vibration

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. 33% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Vibration permission. Total 4,262 games.

33
4262
9 Read External Storage

The android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission allows app developers to enable their apps to read the contents of user SD cards. 30% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Read External Storage permission. Total 3,951 games.

30
3951
10 Install Referrer

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. 27% of the games from Japanese publishers use the Install Referrer permission. Total 3,581 games.

27
3581

What Are the Top 15 Mobile Games in Japan?

The following shows the official Google Play mobile games top chart of Japan. 20% of the top games in Japan are from Japanese game publishers. See the full chart here.

What Are the Top 15 Mobile Games in Japan's Grossing Top Chart?

The following shows the official Google Play Grossing mobile games chart of Japan. 87% of the top grossing games in Japan are from Japanese game publishers. See the full chart here.

What Are the Top 15 Arcade Mobile Games in Japan's Top Chart?

The following shows the official Google Play Arcade mobile games chart of Japan. 53% of the top arcade games in Japan are from Japanese game publishers. See the full chart here.

What Are the Top 15 Highest Ranked Casual Mobile Games in Japan?

The following shows the official Google Play casual mobile games chart of Japan. 20% of the top casual games in Japan are from Japanese game publishers. See the full chart here.

What Are the Top 15 Highest Ranked Racing Mobile Games in Japan?

The following shows the official Google Play racing mobile games chart of Japan. 33% of the top racing games in Japan are from Japanese game publishers. See the full chart here.

What Are the Top 15 Highest Ranked Action Mobile Games in Japan?

The following shows the official Google Play action mobile games chart of Japan. 67% of the top action games in Japan are from Japanese game publishers. See the full chart here.

What Are the Top 15 Highest Ranked Simulation Mobile Games in Japan?

The following shows the official Google Play simulation mobile games chart of Japan. 80% of the top simulations games in Japan are from Japanese game publishers. See the full chart here.

What Are the Top 15 Highest Ranked Strategy Mobile Games in Japan?

The following shows the official Google Play stranegy mobile games chart of Japan. 13% of the top strategy games in Japan are from Japanese game publishers. See the full chart here.

Data Source 42matters

42matters tracks everything from game meta data, to rankings, to download estimates, to changes in meta information, to SDK usage, to App-ads.txt and more. If you would like to leverage our data into your own product, research or app industry analysis, it can be obtained via our API or File Dumps or our interactive App Market Explorer.

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