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Why is Japanese console gaming on the decline? Does anyone find this trend concerning?

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PersianPrince

PersianPrince

Member
Feb 12, 2019
1,658
I keep reading discussions about how Sony is focusing more on the North American and European market for PS5 and how handhelds/Nintendo is king in the Japan market. Japanese console gaming seems to be on the decline for the last couple of generations. Why is that? Can anyone sum it up for me or have links showing why this is the case?

I find this trend a little worrying. I grew up in the NES, SNES, PS1 era and some of my all time favorite games of all time and some of the most well regarded games in the last few decades were made in Japan. While there has been a huge number of incredible games that have come out in the west in the last couple of generations, the amount of (AAA) Japanese games has become fewer and farther between. Seeing companies like Sony, have moved their SIE offices from Tokyo to San Mateo is very telling where the market is going.

It also doesn't help that Japanese devs have not had much of a role in the indie scene either. I feel like there is so much untapped potential if Japan had an indie scene.

Anyone feel the same way? Am I blowing this out of proportion or do we see a further decline in Japanese console game development and consumption?
 
DarkChronic

DarkChronic

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,058
Been like this for a while, pretty sure it's due to the rise in mobile gaming in Japan. Someone more informed can provide more information though.
 
GamerJM

GamerJM

Member
Nov 8, 2017
15,759
I think it's largely due to the rise of mobile. I also lowkey think the PS3 having such a slow start and being less successful impacted things; PlayStation WAS mainstream standard console gaming in Japan during the PS2 era, the 360 was successful in the western world at that time but both of the HD twins floundered pretty hard compared to the previous gen. I feel like they never really recovered from that and things ended up getting worse from there, though this is all conjecture I'd need to look at the numbers again to verify.
 
John Omaha

John Omaha

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,874
The platform choices of the vast majority of Japanese third-party developers have been at odds with the preferences of the market for over a decade.
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
44,102
I'm not concerned about the lack of "AAA" games, but Level-5 and some others shifting to flopped mobile games was sad.

Looks like now most devs came back to PC/Switch/PS.

Aurica said:
Haha. I wish. None of my Japanese friends game on PC.
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Most games are ported to PC, so the audience is probably big.
 
MeepMerp

MeepMerp

Alt Account
Member
May 2, 2020
541
Why make a proper video game when you can make a shitty phone gacha and make 4x the profit? Gacha killed Japanese games.
 

Deleted member 79451

Member
Aug 30, 2020
2,171
I mean it's obvious the market was always going to be smaller than other markets, so game makers stopped catering to their interests and needs so much. This became a viscous cycle where more Japanese gamers dropped out causing the market to recede further.

The hardcore Japanese gamer probably is playing a lot of Western games these days regardless. So again the market for Japan-centric games goes down and then even less Japanese gamers are buying games.

And sure the casual Japanese gamers are playing gatcha / mobile stuff. They would have been playing at least a small amount of Japanese marketed games if those games existed.
 
ohlawd

ohlawd

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,307
Phantagrande
no, not really concerned about anything. all the Japanese gotta do is make sure their stuff is multiplat. ez fix. wish they started doing this in the 360 and XO days and not in the middle of the Switch gen. always late to the party but better late than never.
 
404LinkNotFound

404LinkNotFound

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,725
You mean console gaming for playstation devices. The switch shows Japanese gamers still have interest in console gaming(and before people say the switch is only selling well cuz its a handheld,the Lite sells worse than the OG switch in Japan so clearly it has more appeal than just being "a handheld")
 
MatrixMan.exe

MatrixMan.exe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,501
You mean PlayStation is declining in Japan. Console gaming is doing fine, it's just most people are buying and playing on the Switch.

MeepMerp said:
Why make a proper video game when you can make a shitty phone gacha and make 4x the profit? Gacha killed Japanese games.
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Click to shrink...

In what reality have Japanese games been killed? Let alone by gacha.
 
Pyro

Pyro

God help us the mods are making weekend threads
Member
Jul 30, 2018
14,505
United States
Somewhat concerning since fewer people buying consoles means less games overall but considering how much they sell everywhere else on the planet I'm not too worried.

Finaika said:
Japanese gamers found nirvana that is PC gaming.
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I've been wondering about this after seeing Japanese publishers throughout last gen finally put their stuff on PC . Is that where the Japanese audience really went (and not just mobile) or did they realize there was more money to be made from the rest of the world via Steam?
 
JaggiBaggi

JaggiBaggi

Member
Nov 4, 2017
401
TV sales are down in Japan due to people preferring tablets or phones to consume media. Thus, consoles requiring a TV are down in sales.

This is also why the Switch is doing remarkably well. It doesn't need a TV to work.
 
ArjanN

ArjanN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,160
Pyro said:
I've been wondering about this after seeing Japanese publishers throughout last gen finally put their stuff on PC . Is that where the Japanese audience really went (and not just mobile) or did they realize there was more money to be made from the rest of the world via Steam?
Click to expand...
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The latter.
 
Basic summary of the situation in the Japanese market
  • Index
    • Ishaan

    Ishaan

    Member
    Oct 27, 2017
    1,702
    A very brief, surface-level summary of the situation:
    • "Traditional" games in general have been in decline in Japan for some time now, starting with the early 2000s
    • While this was happening, portable platforms found ways to keep the audience engaged through new kinds of games (Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, Brain Age etc.)
    • This eventually led to portables (largely DS, PSP, and 3DS) becoming the de facto gaming platforms in Japan
    • Since Japanese developers have traditionally put a lot of effort into their portable games, the audience there doesn't see them as "inferior" like the west did for so many years
    • After the Nintendo DS, smartphones began hosting the kind of games the DS was known for, and a large portion of the audience migrated to those, while the 3DS held on to whatever was left of the traditional gaming audience
    • Japan has been shifting to smaller and smaller devices for some time now--portables, smartphones, tablets etc. in lieu of consoles, computers, TV
    • The Japanese lifestyle also involves a lot of commuting on public transport, which means that phones and portable platforms are inherently better suited to that market
    • Smartphones games have also found their own ways of keeping players engaged using mechanics like gacha and are now given large budgets that sometimes put them on par with more traditional games. They're worked into the fabric of every game developer's business strategy.

    As a result of the above factors:
    • Portables/phones have slowly become the only place where you can really find games that the Japanese audience is interested in
    • Example; games with a social element where you meet up in person are popular (DQ9, MH, Pokemon etc.), all of which are more popular on portables
    • So basically: the gaming market declined, portables innovated and took over, the audience moved to portables and phones, and are now staying there for good
    • This has resulted in the kinds of games the Japanese want to play largely being developed for phones and portable platforms
    • This has cemented the ongoing decline of the "home console" market

    There's more to it, of course, but this is a fairly succinct overview.
     
    Last edited:
  • Index
    • Labyrinthe

    Labyrinthe

    Member
    Mar 12, 2018
    953
    JaggiBaggi said:
    TV sales are down in Japan due to people preferring tablets or phones to consume media. Thus, consoles requiring a TV are down in sales.

    This is also why the Switch is doing remarkably well. It doesn't need a TV to work.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Also, a TV takes a lot of space. Not everybody living in small apartments needs a TV when you have tablets, laptops or phones.
     
    RiZ IV

    RiZ IV

    Member
    Oct 27, 2017
    808
    It seems like the nes-ps2 era of gamers were entering college and starting to work by the time ps3 rolled around. At that point lots of them just didn't have the time anymore for proper gaming. Mobile gaming started coming along and it was much easier to spend short periods of time playing like that.

    This also lead to fewer younger folk being exposed and becoming invested to console gaming.

    Much of this is true for western gamers too except that we don't have the crazy work/life imbalance that people in Japan seem to have(?)
     

    Deleted member 3017

    User requested account closure
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    Oct 25, 2017
    17,653
    PlayStation is declining in Japan. Nintendo is doing just fine selling console games on their hybrid device.
     
    SinCityAssassin

    SinCityAssassin

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    15,174
    When a traditionally strong three console market increasingly becomes favorable to one, you will see decline. When traditionally japanese publishers go against the popular platform for game releases, you will see a decline in those sales as well. That's been the trend.
     
    AnimaRize

    AnimaRize

    Banned
    Nov 7, 2020
    3,483
    Japan is very big when it comes to mobile gaming being able to play games on their commute or on breaks at work, sitting home and playing console games, they don't have time for anymore
     
    turbobrick

    turbobrick

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    13,178
    Phoenix, AZ
    NSESN said:
    And yet normal switch sells more than lite
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    to be fair, the normal switch is just better. I have the normal switch and play handheld 100% of the time. The Lite isn't small enough to be much more portable, I can't just easily replace joycons if they have issues, the Lite colors suck, and the normal one has a larger battery. The price difference isn't worth it imo, so I didn't buy the Lite.
     

    Deleted member 3017

    User requested account closure
    Banned
    Oct 25, 2017
    17,653
    turbobrick said:
    to be fair, the normal switch is just better. I have the normal switch and play handheld 100% of the time. The Lite isn't small enough to be much more portable, I can't just easily replace joycons if they have issues, the Lite colors suck, and the normal one has a larger battery. The price difference isn't worth it imo, so I didn't buy the Lite.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Counterpoint: Ring Fir Adventure

    (you're not wrong, but it's also clear Japan is still interested in non-portable software)
     
    Pheonix

    Pheonix

    Banned
    Dec 14, 2018
    5,990
    St Kitts
    It's been this way for the last two generations. Nothing new really. PS3 ~10M in Japan. PS4 ~10M in Japan. I expect the same for the PS5.
     
    SpaceBridge

    SpaceBridge

    Member
    Oct 31, 2017
    2,754
    Also isn't the population in Japan older versus younger? I'd imagine an older market has less time (and space) to devote 80 hours to a RPG as opposed to the western market which isn't seeing a population skewed towards older,

    Or I could be wrong.
     
    Arthands

    Arthands

    Banned
    Oct 26, 2017
    8,039
    The decline is largely contributed due to the lower sales of Playstation there isn't it?

    Nothing to be concern over imo. The 3rd party publishers will never give up releasing games on Playstation no matter how bad it sell there. If their sales got affected, they'll can just release their titles concurrently onto PC and Nintendo Switch too to compensate for the decline. If they jump to mobile instead of porting to PC and Nintendo Switch, well its their choice.
     
    StarStorm

    StarStorm

    "This guy are sick"
    Avenger
    Oct 25, 2017
    7,627
    Its mobile gacha.
    Ishaan said:
    A very brief, surface-level summary of the situation:
    • "Traditional" games in general have been in decline in Japan for some time now, starting with the early 2000s
    • While this was happening, portable platforms found ways to keep the audience engaged through new kinds of games (Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, Brain Age etc.)
    • This eventually led to portables (largely DS, PSP, and 3DS) becoming the de facto gaming platforms in Japan
    • Since Japanese developers have traditionally put a lot of effort into their portable games, the audience there doesn't see them as "inferior" like the west did for so many years
    • After the Nintendo DS, smartphones began hosting the kind of games the DS was known for, and a large portion of the audience migrated to those, while the 3DS held on to whatever was left of the traditional gaming audience
    • Japan has been shifting to smaller and smaller devices for some time now--portables, smartphones, tablets etc. in lieu of consoles, computers, TV
    • The Japanese lifestyle also involves a lot of commuting on public transport, which means that phones and portable platforms are inherently better suited to that market
    • Smartphones games have also found their own ways of keeping players engaged using mechanics like gacha and are now given large budgets that sometimes put them on par with more traditional games. They're worked into the fabric of every game developer's business strategy.

    As a result of the above factors:
    • Portables/phones have slowly become the only place where you can really find games that the Japanese audience is interested in
    • Example; games with a social element where you meet up in person are popular (DQ9, MH, Pokemon etc.), all of which are more popular on portables
    • So basically: the gaming market declined, portables innovated and took over, the audience moved to portables and phones, and are now staying there for good
    • This has resulted in the kinds of games the Japanese want to play largely being developed for phones and portable platforms
    • This has cemented the ongoing decline of the "home console" market

    There's more to it, of course, but this is a fairly succinct overview.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You summarized it up pretty well. Mobile game isn't stigmatized like it is in the west.
     
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